Brandon Michael Ray Thompson (PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — An ex-convict from Cushing was given a four-year prison term Tuesday for stealing an SUV that had been left running with the keys inside, as part of a plea agreement with the prosecution that was approved in court by Associate District Judge Michael Kulling.
Brandon Michael Ray Thompson, 43, who had gotten out of prison three months before his latest arrest, pleaded guilty Tuesday to vehicle theft after multiple prior felony convictions.
Thompson was arrested at 7:10 pm on July 19, 2023, in the Cushing Walmart parking lot, less than two hours after a woman said her SUV, which she left running while she went into the downtown Cushing Dollar General Store, was stolen, according to an affidavit by Cushing Police Officer Katherine Hinkle.
“Master Patrol Officer Alex Gegen and I went into Dollar General to view camera footage. We observed an unknown male wearing an oversized black t-shirt and jeans walk southbound across Broadway Street.
“The male stood by the vehicle for a few moments, got into the vehicle, and at approximately 5:27 pm drove off going northbound through the parking lot,” the Cushing officer wrote in her affidavit.
“At approximately 6:37 pm, I was driving through the Walmart parking lot located at 3100 E. Main when I observed a red Ford SUV with its hazard lights on,” with the same license plate as the stolen vehicle, the Cushing officer wrote in her affidavit.
“The vehicle was running and was unoccupied. MPO Gegen confirmed through dispatch that this was the stolen vehicle we were searching for. MPO Gegen contacted Sgt. Watts to watch the vehicle in the parking lot while we went into the store to view camera footage. While we were waiting on Walmart staff to assist us, I witnessed a male wearing an oversized black t-shirt and jeans pacing through the men’s clothes, trying on multiple hats.
“MPO Gegen recognized the male as Brandon Thompson. MPO Gegen viewed camera footage and witnessed the red Ford Escape with its hazard lights on enter the Walmart parking lot at approximately 6:19 pm. The video footage showed the male entered the store and MPO Gegen confirmed the male as Brandon Thompson.
“At approximately 7:10 pm, Brandon Thompson left the store and Sgt. Watts placed him into handcuffs, where he was advised he was under arrest for larceny of an automobile. Thompson advised he would like to speak to us and advised he took the vehicle from Dollar General and left the keys in the car,” the Cushing officer wrote in her affidavit.
When the owner arrived to retrieve her SUV, she said that two cards and a set of keys were missing, the affidavit alleged. “Thompson did not have these items on him at the time of the arrest,” the affidavit said.
According to court records and the state Department of Corrections, Thompson has a 20-year criminal history consisting of:
* second-degree burglary in Tulsa County in 2022 for which he was given a one-year prison term, but only served four months before his release in April of 2023;
* drug possession in Payne County in 2015 for which he was given a 10-year suspended sentence;
* carrying contraband into the Payne County Jail in 2015 for which he was given a prison term of nine years and 91 days but only served about three years;
* assault and battery on a police officer in Payne County in 2007 for which he was given a five-year prison term of which he served three years and five months;
* first-degree burglary in Payne County in 2007 for which he was given the same concurrent five-year prison term of which he served four years and four months;
