Escalade Stolen from Roland Parking Lot

A Southwest Oklahoma man pleaded not guilty Dec. 2 to felony charges of larceny of an automobile and knowingly receiving or concealing stolen property. 

Pleiades Uriah Lee Douglas, 28, of Weatherford, faces imprisonment in the Department of Corrections for up to 10 years and a fine on the larceny charge, and five years in the State Penitentiary and/or a fine of up to $500 on the property charge. 

On Nov. 16, a Roland police officer was dispatched to Pizza Hut in reference to the theft of a black 2019 Cadillac Escalade. 

The officer attempted to locate the vehicle but was unable to, so she came back to speak with the female victim who said she had pulled up right next to the front door at Pizza Hut and left her vehicle running while she walked inside. She stated that while she was speaking to employees inside the Pizza Hut lobby, she looked back and noticed her Escalade was gone. 

A witness told police he saw a white male wearing a greenish/gray hoodie walking through the Pizza Hut parking lot. The man said he looked down at his phone and look up as the Cadillac was taking off at a high rate of speed. The witness said that’s when he called the Roland Police Department. 

Shortly afterward, dispatch informed the Roland police that Muldrow police had stopped the Escalade there. 

An officer with the Muldrow Police Department told Roland officers that Douglas told him he didn’t really know whose vehicle he took. He said he had just gotten out of a detention facility in Arkansas and had just seen the vehicle running and got in it. Douglas said he was trying to find money in the vehicle so he could get a bus ticket home.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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Body of Sallisaw Man Recovered from Creek

The bodies of two men were recovered in a Muskogee County creek after their truck was swept away in high water.

Larry Beckett, of Sallisaw (age unknown) and Dusty Ross, 66, of Porum were attempting to cross a low-water bridge on Wed., Dec. 2 at approximately 9 p.m. when their vehicle was swept away by high water on the roadway, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) report.

The two men were in a 2007 Ford Ranger pickup at the time of the incident. The OHP report states that it is unknown who was driving.

The vehicle was recovered Friday on 213th Street, one mile west of Ross Road, approximately four miles south and 2 ½ miles east of Warner in Muskogee County.

The bodies of the two men were recovered in the creek, an unknown distance from their vehicle. They were deceased at the time of the recovery.

The OHP was assisted at the scene by Muskogee County Sheriff's Dept., Webbers Falls and Warner Fire Dept. and Muskogee County Emergency Management.

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Taff Rolls Truck Into Creek Arrested for DUI

Sallisaw man was charged with DUI after rolling his Nissan pickup into a creek Nov. 28, police records show.

Jake Edward Taff, 27, faces up to 10 years in prison along with a fine of up to $1,000 on the felony charge.

At 11:10 p.m. Nov. 28, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was notified of an accident with injury on County Road S. 4690 just south of State Highway 101.

While traveling to the crash site, dispatch notified the trooper that the driver involved in the crash had been found at a residence about a mile away from the scene of the collision. The sheriff’s deputy at the scene told the trooper the driver, identified as Taff, was intoxicated and asking to be taken to Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, but that his family had canceled the call to Pafford EMS.

Taff had initially told a deputy he had been driving a truck and that he had not had anything to drink.

The trooper learned that Taff had gone to the VFW Hall, where he had been cut off from alcohol and told to find a ride home. He instead allegedly drove off in an attempt to make the trip on his own. His black Nissan Titan pickup was later found down in a creek bed of water and had been rolled at least one time.

While members of law enforcement were outside the home, emergency medical personnel arrived again, prompting the trooper to question Taff himself.

As soon as he entered the home, the trooper noticed a change in Taff. When asked if he could tell the trooper what had happened, Taff responded by telling the trooper, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” When he was asked if he was driving the truck, Taff said, “What truck?” During the conversation, the trooper noticed Taff’s obvious slurred speech and changed demeanor.

Giving up on getting answers, the trooper gave EMS the go-ahead to transport Taff to Hastings Hospital.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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Winter Gear Donations Needed

The Sequoyah County CCR/SART is seeking donations of 150 sets of new gloves, scarves and hats to keep kids warm this winter.

Cindy Smith, an investigator with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office, said Friday that her team will be donating the items to several agencies, including the Department of Human Services, the Indian Child Welfare service and more.

“IF we get 150 sets, we’ll feel like we’ve really made headway,” she said Friday. “We know the need is there.”

Smith said knitted donations are more than welcome, but cash is, too. You can make donations at the Sheriff’s Office, 119 S. Oak, or call (918) 315-8592 to arrange for pickup.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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Drunk Man Arrested with Stolen Vehicle

A Fort Smith, Ark., man pleaded not guilty Nov. 27 to possession of a stolen vehicle, a felony charge that carries a penalty of imprisonment in the Department of Corrections for up to two years.

Wesley Curtis Underwood, 28, also pleaded guilty to public intoxication, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in the county jail, a fine of up to $500 or both.

On Nov. 27, a pair of Sequoyah County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a rural Sallisaw residence in reference to a suspicious male driving a black Jeep. The reporting party said the man had driven onto their driveway, got out of the Jeep and started walking around their property. The man then allegedly came up to the home’s locked front door and started trying to open it.

When deputies arrived, they saw the Jeep parked in the driveway and noticed a white male walking around the front of the vehicle. He got in the driver’s seat but then exited and walked back to the front of the Jeep, which was bearing a Virginia tag.

Deputies approached the man, who identified himself as Underwood. When asked what he was doing on the property, he said he was from Fort Smith and was lost, just wanted directions and was almost out of gas.

Underwood reportedly appeared nervous and under the influence of something. A deputy patted him down for safety and discovered in his right front pocked a long metal rod with a blue handle. When asked what it was, Underwood said it was a “biopsy tool, used for sucking people’s insides out.”

Underwood was detained at that time because he was becoming increasingly agitated. When he was asked who owned the vehicle, he said he bought it in Fort Smith, but he had no papers to prove it. He later said he was given the vehicle from a car lot in Fort Smith. When officers asked him about all the personal items in the vehicle belonging to the registered owner of the vehicle, Underwood said, “I guess he was just in a hurry and did not get them out.”

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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Health Department Discusses Vaccine Phases

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) announced it will begin a phased plan for distributing the fast-tracked coronavirus vaccine as early as Dec. 11, officials said at a press conference Thursday.

Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer are anticipating emergency use authorizations (EUA) to be issued by the Food and Drug Administration for their vaccines in a matter of days and they expect to ship millions of doses around the country as soon as they get the green light.

Dr. Lance T. Frye, the Sooner State’s commissioner of health, said the first phase of vaccine recipients will include health-care workers, long-term care patients and staff and public health-care workers and staff. He said the doses may arrive by Dec. 11, but it looks more likely that Dec. 13-14 will be a better target date.

Frye said vaccines for the general public will be available in the first part of 2021 and the Department of Health will issue guidance on additional vaccination phases. He also said the vaccine will require two injections, not one.

“This won’t happen overnight,” Frye said. “We are asking for your patience and understanding and we want to assure all Oklahomans that they will have access to this vaccine as soon as possible.”

On Friday the OSDH reported 1,881 positive COVID-19 cases in Sequoyah County. 1,685 of those cases are listed as recovered. There are currently 195 active cases in the county. The OSDH is reporting 14 deaths countywide but Sequoyah County Emergency Management Director Steve Rutherford reported on Friday that the total number of deaths is actually 20 but not all have been added to the official total.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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Couple Arrested After Destroying Motel Room

A Vian woman and a Sallisaw man were arrested Nov. 15 and charged with malicious injury to property (over $1,000), a felony punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for up to two years or a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

Sheena Dawn Fothergill, 36, and Charles R. Davis, 26, are set to appear before Judge Kyle Waters at 9 a.m. on Dec. 16.

According to a police report, on Nov. 15, an employee of the Sallisaw Inn reported that a room there had been badly damaged by its residents, Sheena Fothergill and Charles Davis. 

A look at the room revealed a trash-strewn mess with beds askew, a broken TV, shattered remote control, a broken and filthy microwave and more. The officer took photos of the damage as evidence.

The officer knew the two from previous domestic encounters and from seeing them panhandling at the corner of Cherokee Avenue and McGee, so he was able to quickly track them down. 

Fothergill told the officer they had checked out of the room that morning. When asked about the condition of the room, she apologized and said Davis did the damage because he was schizophrenic and “off his meds.” The officer asked Fothergill why she didn’t notify the hotel of the damage before they left and she couldn’t come up with an answer.

Both were transported to the Sallisaw Jail without incident.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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