By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — An Agra man, who crashed into a tree at Fairlawn Road and Linwood Road northeast of Cushing three months after getting out of prison, has been sentenced to 15 years of incarceration for his ninth drunk driving conviction, court records show.
Rodney Neil Eyestone, 50, pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated drunk driving with a blood alcohol content of .28, which is more than three times the legal limit, court records show.
On his release from prison, Eyestone will be on probation for five years and must pay a $1,000 fine as part of a plea bargain with the prosecution approved in court Friday by Payne County District Judge Phillip Corley.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Ryan Long had been sent to a non-injury single-vehicle collision at Fairlawn Road and Linwood Road shortly after 7 p.m. on April 5, 2017, where a white pickup had crashed into a tree, according to his affidavit.
When the trooper asked Eyestone if he had consumed any alcohol before the collision, Eyestone said he had drunk “plenty,” the affidavit said.
“Eyestone could not recall where he was coming from or what had happened to cause the collision with the tree,” the affidavit said.
The trooper tried to administer standard field sobriety tests to Eyestone, who stopped them and “stated that he could not perform the tests because he was drunk,” the affidavit said.
The trooper terminated the test for safety reasons and arrested Eyestone, the affidavit said.
After Eyestone was given a breath test, “Due to the level of intoxication, Eyestone was transported to the Stillwater Medical Center for medical clearance,” before being booked into the Payne County Jail, the affidavit said.
According to state Department of Corrections records, Eyestone had previously been convicted of:
* grand larceny in 1987 in Lincoln County and placed on two years’ probation in 1990;
* drunk driving in 1989 in Lincoln County and given a one-year prison term in 1990 followed by two years’ probation;
* drunk driving in 2002 in Lincoln County and given a three-year prison term in 2004 beginning in 2008 of which he served about half;
* drunk driving in 2002 in Lincoln County on another occasion and given a concurrent three-year prison term in 2004 of which he served about half;
* drunk driving and malicious destruction of property in 2003 in Oklahoma County and given two concurrent eight-year prison terms in 2003 of which he served about four and one-half years, followed by two years’ probation;
* drunk driving in 2003 in Oklahoma County on another occasion and given a concurrent eight-year prison term in 2003 of which he served about four and one-half years, followed by two years’ probation;
* escape from penitentiary in 2005 in Oklahoma County and given two years’ probation in 2006;
* drunk driving and eluding a police officer in 2011 in Lincoln County and given two concurrent five-year prison terms in 2012 of which he served about one and one-half years beginning in 2014;
* drunk driving in 2013 in Lincoln County and given a five-year prison term in 2013 of which he served about one and one-half years beginning in 2015 prior to his release in January of 2017;
* drunk driving in 2013 in Payne County and given a concurrent five-year prison term in 2013 of which he served about one and one-half years beginning in 2014.
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