By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — Two brothers from Perry have been ordered to appear in court on June 1 on a felony charge accusing them of burglarizing the Bio-Systems and Ag Engineering building at Oklahoma State University, where the younger brother was employed as a custodian by a contractor.
David Joseph Robbins, 38, and John Franklin Robbins, 46, remain free on $5,000 bail each on a second-degree burglary charge punishable by two to seven years in prison on conviction.
The brothers were arrested in an OSU parking lot on the Stillwater campus at 8:15 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2019, by OSU Police Officer John Dawson, who had been sent to the north side of the Noble Research Center regarding “suspicious individuals in the area attempting to gain access to the building,” according to his affidavit.
When the officer arrived, he was advised that the two suspects had driven west in a maroon Ford F150; after the officer was unable to locate them, he returned to the north side of Noble Research Center to inspect the north door for damage, his affidavit said.
“Upon arrival, an unknown white male flagged me down stating he was the one who had contacted OSU PD by phone to report the suspicious people,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
“The white male stated he had seen two white males, who did not appear to be students, one was wearing a camouflage pattern hat and the other was wearing a camouflage pattern shirt,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
Over the radio, the officer learned that Officer Jacob Abad and Senior Patrol Officer Zachary Cook were in a campus parking lot with a vehicle and two males matching the description, later identified as David and John Robbins, the affidavit said.
“Officer Abad was holding a black trash bag and asking David about the contents and where David had found it. David stated he was digging through trash bins inside OSU Bio-Systems and Ag Engineering when he found discarded copper wire. David told us that he was inside the building as part of his duties as a member of contracted custodian services,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked David if he was on duty and he told me no. I asked David why he was inside Bio-Systems and Ag Engineering, as well as attempting to gain access into Noble Research Center if he wasn’t on duty,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
“David advised he was requested by another shift supervisor…if he would come to OSU campus and empty the trash cans for the buildings assigned to her,” the affidavit said. However, when that supervisor was contacted, she said “she had not given any permission to David to do such a thing,” the affidavit said.
“Officer Abad asked David and John what was bulging next to their groin regions concealed by their pants. David said he had a brass valve he had carried out from inside OSU Bio-Systems and Ag Engineering when he had found them in the trash. David and John were requested to take the brass valves out of their pants and they complied, producing two bulky brass fittings.
“I asked David why he and John had chosen to carry brass valves out of the building concealed inside their pants. They said, ‘I don’t know,"” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
Officer Cook said he had spoken with the lab manager for Bio-Systems and Ag Engineering, “and the items such as the insulated copper write and brass valves were not items that would have been thrown away and would have been recycled through the university,” the affidavit alleged.
During a pat down for weapons on David Robbins, the officer found a folding pocket knife and a synthetic folding knife pouch, the affidavit alleged.
When the officer opened the pouch to verify it was not another knife, he found a cylinder object wrapped in an oily rag, along with a small container and a straw that he believed to be drug paraphernalia, the affidavit alleged.
“I put on gloves and again asked David if I should be concerned for my safety because of touching the container with a bare hand, and he said no and that it was only ‘speed,"” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
“While at the Payne County Jail, David admitted to one of the intake deputies he was still under the influence of ‘speed.’ David was in possession of 52 keys on a key ring belonging to the university, which would give him access to multiple campus buildings — only to be used in the performance of his duties,” the affidavit alleged.
“The items identified by David Robbins as ‘speed’ were seized and brought back to the OSU Police Department,” where a small crystalized substance in a plastic baggy tested as methamphetamine, the affidavit alleged.
When John Robbins was asked if he worked for the janitorial service, he said “he was only accompanying David because of their relationship as brothers, but that he did not have any other reason to be on OSU campus,” the affidavit alleged.
“Officer Abad advised me that while conducting a search incident to arrest, he located a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana and a small pipe in John Robbins’ possession,” that tested positive for the presence of THC, the officer alleged in his affidavit.
According to Noble County court records, John Robbins was previously charged with possessing methamphetamine and marijuana in the presence of two children under the age of 12 in Perry in January of 2003, as well as drug paraphernalia including syringes. John Robbins pleaded guilty in 2004 and was given a four-year deferred sentence for the drugs and a one-year deferred sentence for the paraphernalia.
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