(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing man — on probation for making a false pawn declaration regarding gold rings stolen in a residential burglary in 2011 — has pleaded guilty to breaking into the Park Place Baptist Church fellowship hall in Cushing in January and possessing methamphetamine in March.
Christopher Paul Hickman, 25, was released from the Payne County Jail on Friday by District Judge Phillip Corley, who ordered him to enroll in the Payne County Drug Court program by tomorrow and scheduled his sentencing for Nov. 14.
Hickman had been arrested by Cushing Police Officer Rachel Hentges at his residence — one block from the Park Place Baptist Church — shortly after 5 p.m. on Jan. 21, the day that a flat screen television was discovered missing from the fellowship hall, court records show.
Church surveillance video showed that the previous night between 9:41p.m. and 9:52 p.m., Hickman was seen pulling the left door to the fellowship hall open and entering the building, the officer wrote in her affidavit.
“As he enters, a long thin object can be seen in his hand,” that appeared to be a driveway reflector, the affidavit said.
“During the approximately 10 minutes Hickman is in the building, he can be seen moving from room to room looking around the rooms. The video also shows Hickman pulling open several closed doors and he appeared to be looking for something.
“Before Hickman left the church, the video showed him walk into the fellowship hall and pick up a very large black object from the fellowship hall,” where the church’s 42-inch Panasonic flat screen television had been on Sunday, the affidavit said.
“On Jan. 21, 2014, Sgt. Adam Harp and I interviewed Hickman at his residence…Hickman claimed to have no memory of the burglary,” the officer wrote in her affidavit.
While Hickman was free on bond in the church burglary, he was charged with possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in Cushing on March 14, court records show.
Two years ago, Hickman had pleaded guilty to making a false ownership declaration of gold rings to the Mo Money Pawn Shop in Cushing on July 15, 2011.
Hickman was placed on three years’ probation under a deferred sentence with an order to pay $375 restitution, have a substance abuse evaluation, perform any recommended follow-up and undergo random drug and alcohol testing, court records show.
