Federal court orders trial for McClain Co. arsonist and burglary suspect

A metro man was ordered by a federal judge to stand trial for allegedly setting fire to a McClain County deputy's home and cars last month. Austin Reeves is accused of targeting law officers through several car burglaries and arson.

RELATED: Suspect arrested after McClain County deputy’s home destroyed in arson

A preliminary hearing for Reeves was held on Thursday in federal court in downtown Oklahoma City. Reeves was in custody and escorted into the courtroom by U.S. Marshals. Reeves sat silently next to his attorney for the hour-long hearing. 

A federal prosecutor called an Oklahoma City police violent crimes investigator who is also assigned to the ATF Task Force to testify. The agent said that while Reeves was not caught at the scene of the house fire in Washington last month, security cameras captured him running from the McClain County deputy's home, and he had severe burns on the left side of his body. Injuries Reeves claimed were a sunburn.

The agent told the court that Reeves' crime spree targeting law enforcement started days before the arson fire. The agent said Reeves broke into a car belonging to an Oklahoma City officer, an Oklahoma Department of Corrections vehicle, and a car belonging to the McClain County deputy the day before the fire, where a gun was allegedly stolen.

The targeted law officers and deputy whose life was threatened by the fire did not appear in court for the hearing.

The judge found enough probable cause from the evidence presented by the federal prosecutor to bind Reeves over for trial. A trial date was not set, and Reeves remains in federal custody.

Reeves is charged with arson in Indian Country, 3rd-degree burglary, and felon in possession of a firearm. He is also charged in the Chickasaw Nation court with 2nd-degree burglary and possession of stolen property.