By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing man originally accused of drunk driving on a suspended license, transporting an opened container of rum, and child endangerment is now facing an additional count accusing him of molesting a 12-year-old girl while she was sitting in his lap in his pick-up truck, court records show.
After Johnny Ray Pogue, 38, was served a copy of the amended five-count charge by the prosecution on March 5, the defense requested that his case be reset to April 2, which Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler granted, court records show.
If convicted of all counts, Pogue could be incarcerated for 30 years and six months, court records show. Pogue remains free on $7,500 bail.
The case was investigated by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Colby Martens, who was sent at 4:47 p.m. on April 7, 2018, to a one-vehicle collision near 9th and Kings Highway in rural Cushing, an affidavit said.
All three of Pogue’s passengers were under the age of 15, the trooper alleged in his affidavit.
“Pogue was unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech, and had an odor of an alcoholic beverage,” the affidavit alleged.
Asked how much he had to drink, Pogue stated “a few beers and couple shots of rum,” the affidavit alleged.
The trooper ended a field sobriety test for the safety of Pogue, who was “swaying side to side,” the affidavit alleged.
When the trooper talked to the passengers, he was told that Pogue was drinking while driving, the affidavit alleged.
One of the passengers showed the trooper an empty Bud Lite 16 ounce can and a bottle of blackheart rum with a small amount left, the affidavit alleged.
When the trooper asked Pogue if he knew how he crashed, he could not remember, the affidavit alleged. “Pogue stated they were driving back roads,” the affidavit alleged.
Pogue agreed to take the state’s blood test at the Cushing hospital and was then transported to the Payne County Jail, the affidavit alleged.
Eleven months earlier, the same trooper investigated another incident involving Pogue in the Cushing area, court records show.
Pogue pleaded guilty to actual physical control of a pick-up truck while under the influence of liquor at Highway 51 and 56th Street, for which he was placed on one year’s probation under a deferred sentence that the prosecution alleges he violated.
In that case, the same trooper was sent at 11 p.m. on May 6, 2017, regarding a vehicle on the east side of Highway 18 on the Cimarron River bridge — that had pulled into an oil well site with hazard lights on, an affidavit said.
Pogue, who was alone in the vehicle, was passed out in the driver’s seat, the affidavit said.
When the trooper asked him his name, Pogue responded with “who the f… are you,” the affidavit said.
During the trooper’s interaction with Pogue, on three occasions Pogue said “f… off and die,” the affidavit said.
Pogue “did not know where he was and was very repetitive with heavy slurred speech,” the affidavit said.
The trooper found an empty bottle of blackheart rum in the pick-up bed, the affidavit said.
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