2013-08-12

Lance Lee Hooser killed, dumped in street

A Potter County grand jury indicted two men on a murder charge in the death of a man who was bound and dumped Aug. 12 in northwest Amarillo, court documents show.

Ricky Don Burns, 26, and Terry Daniel Young, 52, are charged with murder in the death of Lance Lee Hooser, 29.

Robert Wyatt Melton, 32, Bobby Guy Crawford Jr., 47, and Jeffrey Sean Noblett, 41, are charged with aggravated kidnapping, Potter-Randall Special Crimes Unit Lt. Erick Bohannon said.

Special Crimes investigators spoke with witnesses and identified a maroon Chevrolet Equinox as the vehicle allegedly used when Hooser's body was dumped, Bohannon said.

Amarillo SWAT officers, Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving Unit officers and Special Crimes investigators arrested Burns Aug. 9, Bohannon said. On Aug. 10, police located the Equinox at 7926 Simpson Drive, he said.

Investigators obtained arrest and search warrants before arresting Young, who was stopped while driving the Equinox, Bohannon said.

Authorities arrested Crawford and Melton Aug. 11 at their homes, and SWAT officers arrested Noblett that afternoon at an East Interstate 40 motel, Bohannon said.

Hooser was found shortly before 7 p.m. in the middle of South Bryan Street north of Southwest Third Avenue. An off-duty police officer administered CPR before paramedics arrived, Bohannon said last week.

Bohannon said Aug. 9 that Hooser's feet were tied with some kind of tape, and police thought his hands had been bound but they were free when he was found by officers - perhaps because of the life-saving measures taken.

"We knew we had some pretty unique circumstances we were dealing with," Bohannon said.