Firefighter resigns after burglary charges

An Odessa man accused of trying to break into Ector County Medical Examiner Carl Rogers’ home hung up his firefighter helmet and turned in his resignation Wednesday morning, city public information coordinator Andrea Goodson said.

Goodson said Richard Brent Kilgore, who goes by his middle name, would have been put on administrative leave pending an internal investigation the city began Tuesday. Goodson said that is the standard procedure for any city employee accused of a felony.

Goodson said Kilgore turned in the resignation voluntarily and was not asked to do so.

Kilgore was arrested Sunday morning and charged with burglary of a habitation after Carl Rogers and Odessa Crime Stoppers Executive Director Susan Rogers accused him of trying to break down a door to their home with a butane tank while they were sleeping in the 2500 block of Redbud Avenue. Susan Rogers previously said Kilgore kept bashing down their door even after they woke up until the police arrived and arrested him.

Susan Rogers said they fixed the damaged door since the burglary, but sleeping hadn’t been easy.

“I heard every noise in the house. Every noise woke me up,” she said.

Kilgore, reached at his home Wednesday evening, said his attorney advised him not to comment to the media on the allegations brought against him.

“One thing I can tell you… the truth will come out there,” Kilgore said.