Police Officer Dismissed After Arrest

A Liberal police officer has been dismissed after an outstanding warrant for him was discovered.

Robert A. Buchanan was accused in late 2009 of not returning a laptop computer to his employer, the western Oklahoma oil-services company Schlumberger.

The Hutchinson News reports that an arrest warrant was filed in January 2010 in Beckham County, Okla. It stated that there was an anticipated charge or charges of embezzlement.

The warrant came to light in Hays on Dec. 18 when a vehicle hit a Liberal police car that Buchanan and another officer were using to transport a prisoner. A check of Buchanan’s driver’s license turned up the outstanding warrant.

Liberal police say the warrant hadn’t shown up in previous background checks. Buchanan doesn’t have a listed phone number.