(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Drumright teenager on probation for burglaries in Payne and Pawnee Counties has been jailed on a felony charge of stealing a van from the Cushing Walmart parking lot.
The van was entered into NCIC as a stolen vehicle in June and subsequently recovered, Interim Cushing Police Chief Tully Folden told KUSH Tuesday.
Roland Casey-Andrew Roberts, 19, was apprehended July 30 in Cushing on an arrest warrant issued July 19 for vehicle theft, arraigned last week and ordered to return to court on Aug. 13.
If convicted of his latest felony charge of larceny of a motor vehicle, Roberts could be given a 20-year prison term and fined three times the value of the van, court records show.
Cushing Police Officer Carson Watts was sent to the Cushing Walmart at 9:35 am. on June 29 regarding a stolen vehicle, court records show.
The owner said that he had parked his van in a handicapped parking space in row 10 in the Walmart parking lot and when he completed his shopping, the van was gone, the affidavit said.
Security footage from Walmart showed that at 9:23 a.m. the owner and his wife arrived at the store, left the van parked in the handicapped parking space in row 10, and entered the store, the affidavit said.
At 9:32 a.m., a white male wearing a red shirt and jean shorts approached the van and walked by the passenger’s side, the affidavit said.
“The suspect then walks around the rear of the van and stands next to a sign post and looks around the parking lot nervously and appears to be watching people in the area.
“About 30 seconds later, the suspect approaches the driver’s side of the van and stands next to the vehicle still watching the area and people.
“At about 9:34 a.m. the suspect then opens the driver’s side door of the vehicle and enters the van and drives away and leaves the Walmart property and travels eastbound on Highway 33,” the affidavit said.
More security footage showed the suspect enter the Walmart vestibule at 9:22 a.m. and stay there for about 10 minutes — “walking around and watching out the external doors nervously,” the affidavit said.
“At about 9:32 am. the suspect exits the external doors and into the parking lot,” the affidavit said.
“Also from the security footage, I was able to identify the suspect as Roland Roberts from having previous encounters in the past.
“I also was able to review a book-in photo of Roland from the Payne County Sheriff’s Office, which further assisted me with identifying Roland as the suspect of the theft of this vehicle,” Watts wrote in his affidavit seeking an arrest warrant.
A month later — 11 days after an arrest warrant was issued for Roberts — while Cushing Police Officer Chuck Claxton was attempting to contact Roberts at 1200 E. Broadway in Cushing, Roberts allegedly ran from him, according to another charge.
Roberts was arrested in the 1300 block of E. Broadway for allegedly obstructing an officer and possessing a partially-burnt cigarette containing marijuana, court records show.
Roberts was already on seven years’ probation for breaking into his grandparents’ house — located in rural Drumright in Payne County — from which guns were stolen on June 18, 2011, court records show.
Roberts was also on five years’ probation for burglary in Pawnee County, court records show.
Roberts was initially required to report to a Pawnee County probation officer, but that was transferred to Creek County five months ago, court records show.
“Roberts was given an action plan to deter future criminal behavor. It included the following: obtain a GED, career assessment, full-time employment, restitution, letter of apology, cognitive behavior training, life skills course, mental health evaluation and community service.
“Roberts has failed to comply with the action plan developed for him in any manner,” Creek County Probation and Parole Officer Juan Perez wrote in a report to the court in which he recommended that his probation be revoked.
Roberts’ criminal record also includes a conviction for snatching a Drumright woman’s wallet in Cushing on June 12, 2011, for which he was placed on six months’ probation in March, court records show.
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