(Stillwater, Okla.) — An Agra man — who is on probation for drunk driving west of Cushing on two occasions — has been ordered to appear in court on Feb. 26 on a felony charge of drunk driving in Perkins while his license was suspended.
Frankie James Nicklas, 43, could be given a 10-year prison term plus a $5,000 fine or a minimum of 28 days of inpatient treatment followed by 90 days of aftercare and use of an ignition interlock device, if convicted.
Nicklas was arrested at 12:16 a.m. on Jan. 23 and jailed on $30,000 bail, which he posted that same day, court records show.
According to an affidavit, on Jan. 22 Perkins Police Lt. Jason Galt was in a parking lot east of the intersection of Highway 33 and U.S. 177 south — which is under construction with traffic cones and lane reflectors to indicate proper lanes of travel.
At 11: 48 p.m. that day, the Perkins officer saw a white Ford F-150 truck traveling west on Highway 33 drive into the eastbound lane of traffic at the intersection and use it as a southbound turn lane, Galt’s affidavit alleged.
After the truck turned left onto Main Street, which is Highway 177, the officer initiated a traffic stop near the intersection of Main and West Freeman Road in Perkins, the affidavit said.
“I asked Nicklas where he was coming from. He said Cushing. I asked him where in Cushing and he gave me the name of an establishment that he identified as a bar,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
Asked how much he had to drink, “Nicklas said ‘about five or six drinks.’ He claimed his last drink was a few hours prior to the traffic stop,” the Perkins officer alleged in his affidavit.
After a field sobriety test, Nicklas was arrested for alleged drunk driving and taken to the Payne County Jail where he refused to take a breath test for the presence of alcohol, the affidavit alleged.
On Sept. 23, 2011, Nicklas had been placed on five years’ probation with an order to enroll in and successfully complete the Payne County Drug Court program — for drunk driving on three occasions:
* on Oct. 29, 2010, west of Cushing on Highway 33 and Brethren Road in a pickup;
* on March 12, 2011, west of Cushing just south of Highway 33 on Highway 18 on a motorcycle;
* on April 9, 2011, in Stillwater on Sixth Street and Stallard on a motorcycle.
Prior to his being sentenced on those three cases, a background report was prepared for the court in which Nicklas said that he was first arrested at 21 or 22 for drunk driving in Payne County for which he received a deferred sentence.
“He reports at age 35 or 36, 37, 40, and twice at age 41, he was arrested for DUIs in Payne County and has only served weekends in jail,” the report said.
In the report filed in court records on Aug. 29, 2011, Nicklas said “he is employed with the city of Cushing as a heavy equipment operator and foreman and has been there for the past 19 years.
“Mr. Nicklas reports his first use of alcohol was at the age of 16 when he drank Everclear punch and got sick, but did not black out. He reported he drank beer once every two months until the age of 17 — when he started drinking beer every weekend with his consumption being approximately 10 beers each time.
“He states the most beer consumption in a 24-hour period was approximately 20, and he only drank on the weekends. He stated after his divorce in 2003, everything changed for him and he did not like being home alone — so he started going to bars approximately three times a week and his drinking consumption would depend upon his mood,” the report said.
At the time that the report was filed for the court in 2011, Nicklas reported that he had gone through alcohol and drug rehabilitation at Valley Hope, no longer was drinking and was wearing an alcohol monitor that was issued by the judge.
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