Lacharles Corleone-Keemon Edwards
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater man, who waived extradition from Kaufman County, Texas, where he was arrested, has been ordered held in the Payne County Jail on $40,000 bail pending a Dec. 21 court appearance on charges of burglarizing two Stillwater businesses.
Lacharles Corleone-Keemon Edwards, 21, was already on seven years’ probation for committing two burglaries in Stillwater in 2019 and 2020, when his new charges were filed in September, court records show. Due to his criminal record, Edwards could be given two prison terms of four years to life if convicted of his new burglary charges.
Stillwater Police Detective John Paul Johnson wrote in an affidavit that at 1:34 am on Sept. 25, 2019, officers responded to a report of an activated burglar alarm at the Himalayan Grocery store at 125 S. Main Street.
“The front door was apparently smashed in with a large rock or chunk of concrete, which was laying nearby; the camera system had been stolen and the wires had been cut. The cash register, some cigars, and approximately $20 cash had been stolen for an approximate total loss of $1,300,” the affidavit said.
The detective went to Field Electric to see if their surveillance cameras captured any footage of the possible suspect, the affidavit said. At 12:07 am, video from the rear alley of Field Electric showed a suspect, who lowered the tailgate and looked into the bed of a blue pickup backed up to Field Electric, the affidavit alleged.
“He reaches into the bed but does not pull anything out. He then walks around the other vehicles parked in the alley. He then appears to look around and see if anyone is coming before walking up to the back door of Field Electric and pulls on it, attempting to make entry. The door is locked and secured, so no entry is made,” the affidavit said.
“Based on my previous contacts with Lacharles Edwards and his booking photos, the suspect appears to be Edwards,” who had no known current address since he stayed with different people on different nights and was extremely difficult to locate, the detective wrote in his affidavit.
“Edwards has a history of this kind of criminal activity. On June 22, 2019, the Greenery Salon was burglarized. Entry was made through a front broken glass window, which was similar to how entry was made into the Himalayan Grocery store in this incident.
“He threw a cement block through the front window of the Greenery and entered, similar to how a rock was thrown through the front glass door of the Himalayan Grocery store in this incident. He then fled the area with a cash deposit bag. On June 24, 2019, Edwards was charged for the burglary of the Greenery Salon. He was found with the deposit bags and cash,” the affidavit alleged.
“On Jan. 5, 2020, at approximately 9:43 am officers responded to 211 N. Perkins #11 for a reported burglary of the Genesis Hair Salon; the bottom half of the front glass door was broken out and the back door was unlocked, similar to the Himalayan Grocery store in this case. Blood drops were observed at various places inside the business. There was surveillance footage of the suspect, and he was subsequently identified as Edwards,” the affidavit alleged.
“On Jan. 7, 2020, I assisted Detective LaJeune and other members of investigations in executing a search warrant at the residence where Edwards was staying with his girlfriend in Stillwater, which was the result of the burglary of the Genesis Hair Salon that Detective LaJeune was investigating.
“During the search of Edwards’ room, in the bedroom closet we located a blue zip-up hoodie with white horizontal stripes, which matched the Field Electric video. I was unable to speak with Edwards before he invoked his Miranda rights,” at the time of that 2020 case, Detective Johnson wrote in his affidavit.
