A preliminary hearing has been continued for one of two men charged with an armed grow burglary last October.
Christopher Lamar Irving, 38, from Shawnee, was formally charged Nov. 3, 2023 in Lincoln County District Court second degree burglary, possession of a firearm after former felony conviction and possessing firearm during commission of felony.
Appearing by video recently before Special Judge Emily Mueller, the judge set his preliminary hearing for 1:30 p.m. July 25. She has continued that until 1:30 p.m. Aug. 15.
Irving 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.
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.
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 originally set his pre-preliminary hearing for Dec. 21.
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 pointed out 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.
The other defendant charged in the armed grow burglary is a Prague man who has since been bound over on several felonies stemming from a reported crime spree he went on following a reported armed burglary he and a Shawnee man allegedly committed last October has been set for the felony disposition docket and scheduled for trial.
Shawn David Morgan, 31, of Prague, was charged in Lincoln County District Court Oct. 25, 2023 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, 2023.
On Nov. 3, five more felonies were filed in Lincoln County District Court against Morgan.