(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing man has been charged with stealing two flat screen television sets and a gaming system from a house in December, as well as fleeing an accident scene after driving into a city electric pole in January, both in Cushing.
Ross Stanford Nichols, 20, was arrested and released on $7,500 total bail on both charges last week. He was ordered to appear in court on March 26 with an attorney to represent him on the charges.
Cushing Police Sgt. Adam Harp wrote in an affidavit filed in court records last week that on Dec. 18, 2013, he was sent to a house in the 500 block of S. Harrison Avenue to investigate a burglary.
A Cushing woman said that two flat sceen TVs and an X-box 360 game system had been stolen from her house, which was locked when she left, the affidavit said.
A man who also lived there said “an employee that he only knows as Ross left work early today,” the affidavit said. He said “Ross came over to his house yesterday with him and that he saw him use an ID card to get into the house,” the affidavit alleged.
The next day, the Cushing woman “said that she had been in contact with Ross who told them that he was the one that broke into their house and took their TVs and game system,” the affidavit alleged.
She said “she was able to get the two TVs back from Ross, but that he said that he would have to work on getting the game system back,” the affidavit alleged.
When the defendant was interviewed by the police sergeant, “Ross said that he had been at the victim’s house prior to the burglary and knew how to get into the house,” the affidavit alleged.
“I asked Ross if he used a card to gain entry into the house and he said yes. I asked Ross what he took from the house and he said two flat screen TVs and an X-box game system,” the police sergeant alleged in his affidavit.
“Ross said that he returned the two TVs back to the victim, but that he sold the X-box game system to Hastings in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the same day that he committed the burglary,” the affidavit alleged.
“I asked Ross why he committed the burglary and he said that he did not know. Ross later said that he needed money to pay off a debt but would not say what that debt was,” the police sergeant alleged in his affidavit.
When the police sergeant told Nichols that Hastings had no record of his selling them the game system, “Ross then told me that he sold the game system to Game Stop in Stillwater,” Harp alleged inhis affidavit.
The Game Stop store manager verified that Nichols sold an X-box game system to them on Dec. 18, 2013, but they paid only $9 because the system did not work properly and had been sent off to be refurbished, the affidavit alleged.
Less than a month after that incident, Nichols left the scene of an accident at North Street and Main Street in Cushing after driving into an electric power pole, court records allege.
Cushing Police Officer Matthew Piatt wrote in an affidavit filed last week, “Cushing Electric advised me the power pole would have to be replaced, and the cost to replace the power pole wuld exceed $2,000.”
When the officer went to a trailer park where Nichols was living, he “could smell a strong odor associated with burnt marijuana emitting from the residence,” the affidavit alleged.
However, Nichols was not charged with a drug offense in connection with the alleged marijuana, court records show.
Asked about the accident that damaged a power pole owned by the city of Cushing, Nichols wrote a statement that while he was driving west on Main Street, “I approached the service road and was driving too fast to avoid the slide into the pole,” the affidavit alleged.
“Both me and the passenger are okay. Later we moved the car to salvage on 1-13-2014. I was the owner of the car. It was a 1999 Toyota Solara. Northrup Salvage Yard,” Nichols wrote, according to the affidavit.
When the Cushing officer went to Northrup Metals, “I asked if Nichols brought a vehicle in to scrap recently and was told the vehicle was brought in by Nichols and sold for salvage,” on Jan. 13 for $396, the officer alleged in his affidavit.
If convicted of his felony charge of larceny from a house, Nichols could be given a five-year prison term, according to court documents filed last week.
If convicted of his misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in damage to fixtures, Nichols could be given a one-year jail term and fined $500, court records show.
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