By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing man on probation for possessing a drug with intent to distribute in Tryon has been jailed on $25,000 bail on a charge of being a felon in possession of a .410 shotgun and having methamphetamine.
Joshua David Phelps, 40, has been ordered to appear before a Payne County judge today on the two-count charge filed last week, court records show.
Cushing Deputy Police Chief Nick Myers spotted Phelps at a convenience store at 1:28 pm on May 14 and confirmed that he had a Cushing municipal arrest warrant, his affidavit alleged.
“Mr. Phelps had gotten into a silver sport utility vehicle and left the parking lot,” the affidavit alleged.
“I activated my emergency lights to perform a traffic stop,” on the SUV driven by a 34-year-old woman, who turned south from Main Street onto Highland Street, Myers alleged in his affidavit.
The driver, who attempted to exit the vehicle, was ordered back inside it, the affidavit alleged. She was not arrested, court records show.
“I immediately noticed a single-shot break-over shotgun sitting next to Mr. Phelps,” the deputy police chief alleged.
“I asked Mr. Phelps about the shotgun and he advised he was going to the farm to shoot it,” the deputy police chief alleged in his affidavit.
After arresting Phelps for his outstanding Cushing warrant, “I searched Mr. Phelps for additional weapons or contraband and located two Remington .410 shotgun shells in his right front pocket,” along with three baggies of a crystal substance that field-tested as methamphetamine, the deputy police chief alleged in his affidavit.
“I approached the vehicle to retrieve the shotgun” and was advised by Phelps that it was loaded, the deputy police chief wrote in his affidavit.
If convicted of possessing a firearm after a former felony conviction, Phelps could be imprisoned for one to 10 years and fined $10,000. If convicted of possessing methamphetamine as a misdemeanor, Phelps could be given a one-year jail term and a $1,000 fine, court records show.
According to Lincoln County court records, Phelps had pleaded guilty last August to possessing a drug with intent to distribute in Tryon and received a four-year suspended sentence.
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