(Stillwater, Okla.) — A woman arrested by Yale Police Officer Ken Moore has been charged with possessing a 2015 Chevrolet SUV stolen in Pawnee County, along with having methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, described as a syringe with a needle.
Former Yale resident Christine LaDawn Ratliff, 35, of Sand Springs, has been jailed on $5,000 bond pending a court appearance with an attorney this afternoon, court records show.
If convicted of the three-count charge, Ratliff could be incarcerated for as much as seven years and fined a total of $7,000, according to court documents filed by Payne County Assistant District Attorney Tom Lee.
The Yale police officer was sent at 11:22 p.m. on Sept. 7 to the 500 block of S. 5th Street in Yale on a report that a vehicle stolen in Pawnee County was at this location, Moore alleged in an affidavit filed in Payne County court records.
“I saw a dark SUV parked on the far east side of the property under some trees,” with two individuals inside asleep, Moore wrote in his affidavit.
Ratliff was on the passenger side, while Liberty Zane Merriman, 41, was on the driver’s side, the affidavit alleged.
“Captain Harris and I woke the individuals and had them exit the vehicle,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
Pawnee County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Sterling “advised me that he had taken a stolen vehicle report with Christine LaDawn Ratliff as the suspect.
“Deputy Sterling advised me there would be a warrant coming from Pawnee County for Mrs. Ratliff,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
“Mrs. Ratliff told me that Mr. Merriman did not know she had taken the car,” which she said was hers but in her boyfriend’s mother’s name, Moore alleged in his affidavit.
“I told Mrs. Ratliff since the vehicle was entered as a stolen vehicle (that) she was in possession of, she was under arrest,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
“Mr. Merriman was not charged in this incident,” the affidavit said.
“After I arrested Mrs. Ratliff, I transported her to the Payne County Jail for booking,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
“While a standard inventory was done of her purse, two small plastic bags with a white powder were found, as well as a syringe with needle. The white powder tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine,” the affidavit alleged.
“The hypodermic needle appeared to have been used and did have a cap over the needle part,” the affidavit said.
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