A preliminary hearing has been set for one defendant facing multiple charges in an area armed grow burglary in late October. A pre-preliminary hearing has been scheduled for the other individual charged with eight felonies.
The armed burglary of the marijuana grow sparked a huge manhunt seeking the two.
One of the two faces eight felony counts as the result of a reported crime spree he went on that began with the burglary of the marijuana grow. The other man faces three felonies.
Both have prior felony convictions. Shawn David Morgan, 31, of Prague, was charged in Lincoln County District Court Oct. 25 with three felonies. He was taken into custody on Nov. 1 after he had eluded law enforcement since the armed burglary of the marijuana grow on Oct. 22.
On Nov. 3, five more felonies were filed in Lincoln County District Court against Morgan.
A pre-preliminary hearing has been set for Morgan on Feb. 29, 2024 on the charges he faces.
Christopher Lamar Irving, 38, from Shawnee, was arrested about five to six hours after the marijuana grow burglary on Oct. 22 and taken into custody by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Brewer and Lt. Tony Long.
His preliminary hearing on those charges is set for March 7, 2024.
Brewer noted in an affidavit that at the time of his arrest Irving was uncooperative and provided two fictitious names and dates of birth on scene as officers tried to identify him.
Irving faces charges of second degree burglary, possession of a firearm after former felony conviction and possessing firearm during commission of felony.
He appeared before Associate District Judge Sheila Kirk on Oct. 30 who set his bond at $7,500. He made his initial appearance on Nov. 6 and the judge set his pre-preliminary hearing for Dec. 21.
A $50,000 bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Morgan on Oct. 25, the same day he was charged with second degree burglary, possessing firearm during commission of a felony and possession of firearm after felony conviction.
In Count 1 Morgan is accused on Oct. 22 this year of breaking and entering into a building located at 890483 S. 3390 Road in Lincoln County owned by a marijuana business in which property of value was contained, with the intent to steal things.
Count 2 charges Morgan with possessing firearm during commission of a felony on the same date by breaking into a business with intent to steal things kept inside. The information states Morgan possessed an AR type of gun, capable of raising in the mind of one threatened with a device that it was a real firearm.
In Count 3 he is accused on the same date of having a firearm in his possession, a AR type of gun, after he had been convicted on May 4, 2022 in Pottawatomie County District Court of endangering others while elude police.
The five other felonies against Morgan include another second degree burglary count, three third degree burglary charges and a count of larceny of an automobile, aircraft or other vehicle.
Supplemental information filed by Assistant District Attorney Kelly Trimble states that in addition to Morgan’s conviction last year in the Pottawatomie County case he was also convicted on May 21, 2019 in Cleveland County District Court of attempted second degree burglary.
Supplemental information filed in Irving’s case by Assistant District Attorney Rachel Thompson shows that Irving has at least five prior convictions, all in Pottawatomie County. They include two convictions on Jan. 24, 2011 for kidnapping and for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; Nov. 30, 2016 for possessing a firearm after felony conviction; on May 10, 2017 for the same charge; and on Oct. 11, 2022 for harboring a fugitive, Brewer says in a probable cause affidavit that he responded on Oct. 22 to a burglary at a marijuana grow business located at 890483 S. 3390 Road in Lincoln County.
Brewer said LCSO deputies were on scene and observed two persons fleeing the area.
He stated one was armed with a rifle and Deputy CJ Hyde observed his face clearly before the suspect ran from deputies.
According to the affidavit, surveillance video showed two armed males on the exterior of the business.
Brewer said that deputies determined these were the same suspects they had observed fleeing from the business through a field.
As the deputies tracked and pursued the suspects on foot, they located a vehicle in the field and it was a blue/ gray BMW and appeared stuck in deep sand.
Brewer reported that once he arrived at the vehicle he observed a large quantity of marijuana and marijuana products in tubs in the rear seat of the vehicle.
The captain had the car impounded pending a search warrant to recover stolen property and other items of value related to the crimes being investigated, he noted.
As the investigation continued, it was determined that Morgan was a probable suspect in these crimes and Brewer stated, “Morgan has a documented history of burglarizing marijuana grow farms.”