FINDING HIS PLACE

TSCRA special rangers unite in passion for livestock and law enforcement.

By Jaclyn Roberts Parrish

Brent Mast has long been engaged in law enforcement. His career began in 1987 in Bowie, growing to eventually serve as a sergeant investigator with the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office.

In these roles, he interfaced with a team of specialists he looked up to — the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association special rangers.

“I got to work with a lot of those guys before I got hired,” Mast says. “And I was always impressed with the quality of the guys in the workforce.”

Those early impressions would eventually lead Mast to find his way to Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. Today, he serves as special ranger for district 22, where he investigates agricultural crimes for Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, and Washington counties.

“I always wanted to work for the Cattle Raisers,” Mast says. “I always thought this was the greatest secret in law enforcement — the best place to be.”

Mast finds the work rewarding, particularly because of his background in agriculture. He grew up around livestock and had a stint as a ranch manager for a cowcalf operation when he was younger.

His cattle background brings value when catching modern-day criminals. As he says, these criminals are much different than what is depicted by Hollywood.

“We think of traditional, old-school cattle theft as cutting a fence and stealing cattle, but there are all kinds,” Mast says. “You also have caretaker theft, where the guys supposed to be caring of the stockers are stealing calves.”

Then, there is fraud, which is no stranger to Mast.

“I had a case where an individual conned a man into taking a personal check for an account set up using a bogus ID,” he says. “They drove off into the sunset with $20,000 worth of registered cows never to be seen again.”

Mast has also helped investigate high-profile cases throughout the years, including the cattle-rustling case involving cattle owned by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.

“The case was pretty big, it spanned across eight different counties,” Mast explains. “The last few thefts that the criminal orchestrated were in sale barns right before we caught him.”

Mast’s institutional knowledge and impressive resumé certainly make him a value to the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association team, but his passion for his work cannot be understated.

“It’s what we do,” he says. “It’s a team effort to catch these criminals, and I work with some great people.” T C