(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing teenager who is accused of possessing substances with intent to manufacture methamphetamine in a Southgate apartment has been ordered to appear in court Sept. 7 for a preliminary hearing.
Dakota Cheyenne Pearce, 18, has been jailed on $50,000 bail since his arrest at the apartment by Cushing Police Officer Matt Piatt at 11:45 p.m. July 16.
A Cushing woman, Romana De La Torre, 43, who was arrested in connection with the case on Aug. 13, remains jailed on $5,000 bail pending a Sept. 10 court appearance on the same charge.
According to an affidavit, the Cushing police officer was on patrol at 1:57 a.m. July 16 when he saw two males hiding by one of the closed Fountaine Bleau apartment buildings owned by the city of Cushing.
A Drumright man, who was not charged, said that the other male yelled “cops, run” and ran into the apartment, according to Piatt’s affidavit.
Cushing police went to the apartment and saw De La Torre in the residence through an open door, the affidavit alleged.
“When De La Torre saw police, she quickly went into a back bedroom and shut the door,” the affidavit alleged.
A woman living in the apartment, who was not charged, took police inside, the affidavit alleged. When she opened the bedroom door, “De La Torre and arrestee Dakota Pearce were in the room by a closet,” the affidavit alleged.
“Pearce was scraping a glass container with a white powdery substance that tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine,” the affidavit alleged.
“De La Torre exited the room stating ‘I’m out of here’ upon police contact,” the affidavit alleged.
Pearce was arrested and removed from the residence, where ingredients that can be used to make methamphetamine were found in the closet next to where De La Torre was standing, the affidavit alleged.
“State-certified clandestine lab technician Detective Harp and the Cushing Fire Department removed the bag from the residence and rendered it safe,” the affidavit said.
“Statements (were) provided by Pearce stating De La Torre was cooking methamphetamine earlier with Logan Tucker,” the affidavit alleged.
Tucker, 19, who previously lived in Cushing, has not been charged in the case.
However, a bench warrant was issued for Tucker’s arrest on July 5 for his failure to appear in court on charges of possessing methamphetamine in 2011 and a handgun in 2012 within 10 years of being adjudicated a delinquent for burglary, court records show.
In the July drug case at the Southgate apartment, Pearce told police, “De La Torre offered him $10 to scrape the container containing methamphetamine,” the affidavit alleged.
“Pearce stated while scraping the container, De La Torre ran into the bedroom and grabbed a green bag containing the methamphetamine lab and threw it in the closet where it was discovered,” the affidavit alleged.
“When asked if her fingerprints would be on the methamphetamine, De La Torre stated, ‘I don’t know,’ the affidavit alleged.
De La Torre said she knew methamphetamine was being manufactured in the residence, the affidavit alleged.
In another case in May, De La Torre had been charged with ex-convict John Clinton Fortney, 35, of Cushing, and Daniel Matthew Warnock, 26, of Yale, with possessing substances in the 2300 block of E. Main in Cushing with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.
All three were held in the Payne County Jail for nearly two months until the state requested all charges be dismissed due to insufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing on July 6, court records show.
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