By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater. Okla.) — A Cushing man accused of stalking his estranged wife between July 11 and Aug. 8 by making repeated text messages, leaving written messages on her car, loitering around her home and contacting others to get messages to her has been ordered to appear in court on Sept. 8 on the felony charge punishable by as much as a five-year prison term on conviction.
Stephen Michael Whitebird, 48, who was arrested at 11:46 p.m. on Aug. 8, was released from the Payne County Jail on $5,000 bond on Aug. 12 with an order to have no contact with his estranged wife, who had obtained an emergency protective order against him on June 22, court records show.
Cushing Police Officer Garvis Scott Thomas was sent at 5:21 a.m. on Aug. 8 to the home of the woman, who said that morning when she was leaving for work she saw a truck that she believed to be her estranged husband’s, according to an affidavit.
At 11:36 p.m. on Aug. 8, the officer was again sent to the home of the woman, who said the truck left her property and went south on Highland where the officer stopped the vehicle at 9th Street, the affidavit said.
“As I was approaching the vehicle, the driver, later identified as Stephen Whitebird, made the statement, ‘she invited me over,"” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
Whitebird claimed, “they have been talking all day through the social media page, Twitter,” but when asked to show the officer the page, it was just videos of baseball highlights, the affidavit alleged. Asked again to show the messages, “Whitebird stated he does not have them anymore and deleted them for her safety,” the affidavit alleged.
“I asked Whitebird if he was in her driveway earlier this morning. Whitebird stated, ‘yes, because she invites me over and told me this protection order was lifted,"” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
“I again asked Whitebird if he could show me the messages, Whitebird again pulled up his Twitter account and showed me random tweets that were not associated,” with his estranged wife, the officer alleged in his affidavit.
“Dispatch confirmed the protective order was still valid,” when Whitebird was arrested, the officer wrote in his affidavit.
Cushing Police Officer Sara Reynolds also talked on June 27 to Whitebird’s estranged wife, who said Whitebird had added her on Instagram, an affidavit alleged.
“I reviewed a copy of the EPO which stated Whitebird was not to have any contact with (her) including electronically,” the officer wrote in her affidavit.
“When Whitebird was asked if he added (his estranged wife to Instagram), he claimed he did not and if he did it was by accident. Officer Smith informed Whitebird he was not allowed to make any contact with (his estranged wife) and Whitebird stated he never read the EPO when he was served,” the affidavit alleged.
Cushing Police Officer Christopher Haywood was sent at 9:14 a.m. on July 12 to the residence of the woman, who said “she had been checking her messages on her phone and noticed messages through Facebook from Stephen Whitebird,” against whom she had a valid protective order, the affidavit alleged.
The woman said “when she checked the messages, Whitebird had first started sending messages the previous day, July 11, at about 3 p.m.” the affidavit alleged.
She said “Whitebird had been sending continuing messages throughout the day and had already removed some of them,” the affidavit alleged.
She said “the messages consisted of Whitebird forgiving her, telling her he loved her and that he would support her,” including one in which “Whitebird even pleaded with her not to notify the police of his contact with her,” the affidavit alleged.
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