(Stillwater, Okla.) — An out-of-state teenager who admitted Friday that he broke into Escott’s Grocery Store in Cushing with a juvenile was released on a personal recognizance bond by District Judge Phillip Corley pending his sentencing on March 23. Joshua Andre Smith, 18, of Atlanta, Texas, had been jailed on $5,000 bail since his arrest on Aug. 31 by Cushing police, court records show. His alleged accomplice, a 17-year-old boy from Atlanta, Texas, was held in the Payne County Youth Shelter, authorities said. Cushing police responded to Escott’s Grocery Store shortly after 1:30 a.m. Aug. 31 after a alarm was activated, according to a news release. Sgt. Mark Jobe and Master Patrol Officer Justin Sappington arrived first and noticed that the front sliding door had been tampered with, the release said. “The officers then went to the rear of the store and found the overhead door partially open with a small board underneath it,” the release said. When they checked the rear of the business, they saw Smith looking out the overhead door after opening it, the release said. “Smith later emerged from the overhead door and began running away from the business — involving officers in a brief foot chase,” before he was apprehended by Officer Matt Piatt near Atwood’s, the release said. “Another person came running out the back of the store, fleeing to the east away from the store,” the release said. The juvenile was initially able to elude police, but later the same morning, he was arrested in connection with the Escott’s burglary, the release said. Sgt. Jobe said, “I am really proud of the effort and investigative work by MPO Sappington, Officer Piatt, and Detective Adam Harp in the investigation and arrest of these two suspects,” the release said. Second-degree burglary is a felony punishable by as much as a seven-year prison term, court records show. Due to his age, Smith will be sentenced under the Delayed Sentencing Program of the state Department of Corrections, which was ordered Friday to prepare a Youthful Accountability Report.
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