By: Patti Weaver

(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Bristow couple accused of possessing a truck stolen in Oklahoma City and an enclosed box trailer stolen in Collinsville have been ordered to appear in court on Nov. 2 on charges filed as a result of an investigation by Cushing Police Officer Kurt McKean.

Ex-convict Donald Ray Cato, 43, jailed on $50,000 bail, and probationer Michele Lea Cato, 38, jailed on $40,000 bail, could be given prison terms of six years to life if convicted of their felony counts due to their prior convictions, court records show.

The pair were arrested in the 800 block of E. Broadway in Cushing at 6:44 am on Sept. 28, about 30 minutes after McKean was dispatched to the area on a report of shots fired and a woman screaming, according to the officer’s affidavit.

“When I arrived, I drove the area and passed by a white Ford pickup, which had a trailer attached to it, which was parked on the south side of the 800 block of E. Broadway. As I drove by, I observed a white male sitting in the driver’s seat, who was looking at me drive by,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.

“I observed the same male and a female walking away from the vehicle as Sgt. Ford approached them…As I approached the two individuals, Sgt. Ford asked them to have a seat on the curb due to their complaints of recent injury as a result of an unrelated car accident.

“I followed up by advising the two we were in the area in reference to a shots fired call followed by a woman screaming. At this time, the female advised she was the one who screamed because she fell down and it aggravated her previous injury,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.

Although Michele Cato claimed they had received the truck from a man named John, it was confirmed as having been stolen in Oklahoma City, the affidavit alleged. The trailer was also confirmed as having been stolen in Collinsville, the affidavit alleged.

In addition to felony counts of possessing a stolen truck and a stolen enclosed box trailer after multiple prior convictions, Donald Cato was also charged with obstructing the Cushing officer by giving him a false name, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, court records show.

According to the state Department of Corrections, Donald Cato has also been known as Donnie Cato and Jason Green. His criminal record goes back more than 20 years, DOC records show. He apparently got out of prison about three and one-half years ago after serving about seven months of a two-year sentence for possessing a stolen vehicle in 2015 in Creek County.

Donald Cato was 21 when he was placed on probation for drug possession, escape after lawful arrest, and obstructing an officer in Oklahoma County in 1999. He was placed on interstate parole from Kansas in 2000 for three counts of conspiring or endeavoring to commit a drug crime, DOC records show. He was placed on probation in 2008 for possession of stolen property and false personation in Nowata County, DOC records show.

Donald Cato was sent to prison from Creek County in 2013 to serve six concurrent two-year sentences for two counts of possessing stolen property and four counts of second-degree burglary, DOC records show.

Michelle Cato, who has also used the surname of Anderson, was placed on five years of probation in 2012 for possession stolen property in Creek County, followed by five more years of probation in 2013 for second-degree burglary in Creek County, court records show.

***