Car Theft Spree Ends in Arrest

Randy Lee Treadaway

A man who went on a car-stealing rampage was arrested Nov. 9, a police report shows. 

Records show that at 3:10 p.m. on Nov. 9, a Sequoyah County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the truck wash off Highway 82 just south of Vian city limits. The call was in reference to a stolen black 1979 GMC truck.

While the deputy was on his way to the truck wash, dispatch notified him and a Vian police officer that the stolen truck was headed north through Vian.

A short time later, dispatch again alerted the two law enforcement officers that an older-model Chevrolet or GMC truck had just left a residence west of Vian on Highway 64 after doing donuts in the home’s yard.

The deputy then headed west on Highway 64 to try and intercept the truck but was unable to make contact with the vehicle.

The deputy then met with Aaron Martin and his mother, Brenda Frazier. Aaron told the deputy a white male wearing a light-colored shirt, blue jeans and a ball cap came walking up from the east and got into Frazier’s black 1979 GMC truck and drove toward Vian. Martin reported that the man told him he was taking Frazier’s truck because he did not want to go back to jail. He then drove off in the truck.

The deputy then got a call from the Vian officer, who said the suspect's truck was parked at 502 W. Sequoyah St. in Vian. The truck, still running, was parked in the home’s driveway when the deputy arrived at the scene. 

The deputy then entered the home and spoke with James and Wanda Smith, who told him the truck had appeared in the driveway about 15 minutes earlier. When James Smith went outside to see who was in the black truck, he noticed that his red 2018 GMC truck was missing from its parking spot in his driveway.

A few moments later, dispatch informed the officers that a four-wheeler had just been stolen from a residence just outside Vian. In the home’s driveway, the Smiths’ red GMC pickup was left behind.

The deputy then went to the location and met with Lyndon Ellis, who told him he thought he had heard his four-wheeler out in the field. A short time later, the Vian officer radioed that she was in pursuit of the stolen ATV. The deputy met her shortly afterward and a white man identified as Randy Lee Treadaway, 44, who was driving the four-wheeler, tried to flee. The deputy pulled his car in front of Treadaway, who then hit the police vehicle. When the deputy exited the vehicle, the four-wheeler went down the driver’s side and hit the car door, striking it as the deputy jumped out of the way.

Treadaway then sped off with law enforcement in pursuit. He eventually stopped the vehicle and was arrested.

Treadaway later admitted to officers that he was under the influence of heroin. He was taken by ambulance to an area emergency room.

The deputy was then dispatched to the home of Lindsey Loyd just outside Vian in reference to a stolen tractor. The woman said she followed the tractor’s tire tracks and found her Mahindra tractor stuck in mud near Interstate 40. A silver Ford F150 truck was also stuck at the location.

A records check showed the Ford had been stolen in Fort Smith, Ark. The truck was filled with equipment and several pawn receipts in Treadaway’s name.

Another deputy later reported speaking to William Deem and Christie Mendenhall in reference to Treadaway driving an older Chevy or GMC dark-colored truck. Mendenhall said she saw Treadaway entering Deem’s shop and his truck. Deem reported that the same man came to his home’s back door and asked for a ride to the hospital. While Deem was preparing to leave, the man drove away heading east on Highway 64. Deem said his shop’s door was partially open, his truck’s center console was opened and his gloves were on the passenger’s floorboard.

Credit cards in the name of Payton M. Goins that were found in Treadaway’s pockets had been reported stolen during a Barling burglary in October.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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