Two face theft, weapons charges

WEST ODESSA Two men were arrested after officers from multiple law enforcement agencies searched a trailer and reported finding a wide array of stolen items ranging from copper to cars, according to a newsrelease from the Ector County Sheriff's Office.

Officers searched a trailer at 3045 Northstar Ave. in West Odessa on a say they warrant and discovered two stolen motorcycles, a stolen Ford truck, several hundred feet of stolen copper wire, 35 stolen oilfield valves and $2,400 in cash, along with methamphetamine, an assault weapon, a revolver and a shotgun.

Deputies arrested Terry Wayne Lewis, 52, and Brandon Hopkins, 31, in connection to the seizures late Tuesday. Lewis was charged with possession of a firearm while a convicted felon - a federal charge. Hopkins was charged with theft of property.

"They're not your garden store variety. Look at what you got here," Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Duesler said of the two suspects accused of stealing those items.

Hopkins is being held at the Ector County Detention on a $5,000 bond Wednesday afternoon. Lewis was being held at Odessa's federal detention center. Bond information was not available late Wednesday.

Duesler said investigators are still trying to determine a motive and if there are any connections to other cases.

A search of Texas criminal records indicated that Hopkins was previously arrested in 2005 on another property theft, where the property was worth between $1,500 and $20,000. He was sentenced to probation for it last year.

Duesler said Lewis had a prior arrest in 1984, but an online records search did not reveal any arrests on him.