Man accused of cutting off his ankle bracelet faces felony charges

TEXARKANA, Texas – A man who was required to wear a GPS ankle bracelet as a condition of his probation was arrested in Bowie County last week for allegedly cutting the device off his leg.

Bobby Lee Olds, 51, who was also charged in Bowie County with failure to register as a sex offender, was taken into custody on Sept. 4 for tampering with an electronic monitoring device. Olds was allegedly warned by his probation officer on Dec. 29 that he would face new charges if he turned off the device, an affidavit states.

The next day, a strap alert led probation officers to a parking lot at Morrison Supply Co., a business in the 4900 block of W. 7th St. in Wake Village, Texas, in Bowie County, where the leg monitor was found cut off and discarded.

Olds is currently serving a suspended sentence for possessing a firearm while a convicted felon. In 1990, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Red River County for sexually abusing a 13-year-old child, records show. After his release from prison, Olds was required to register as a sex offender for life in the county where he worked and lived.

On Monday, he was charged with failing to register as a sex offender in Bowie County. Bowie County authorities have also filed a motion to revoke a probation sentence Olds was serving for possession of a controlled substance.

Olds could return to prison for violating his probation by turning off electronic monitoring, and he faces additional prison time for tampering with monitoring and the impending violation of his probation.