By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing woman — who was tracked by a Stillwater police K-9 after escaping into woods — was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for punching Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Derek Fry in the face after she was stopped for driving an SUV with an expired 30-day temporary paper license tag on Highway 51 near WestPoint Road.
At the time, Lacey Camille Armbruster, 29, was being sought for failing to appear in court on probation violations in a felony case in which she stole cash, coins and an engagement ring from an elderly neighbor’s home in 2016. Her probation was revoked Friday to a concurrent prison term.
Armbruster had pleaded guilty Friday to assault and battery on the trooper, escape from arrest, resisting arrest, driving without a license, driving with an expired license tag, and failing to carry a security verification form. Armbruster was given two concurrent one-year jail terms for escaping and resisting arrest, along with court costs for her traffic offenses.
When Armbruster gets out of prison, she must serve three years of probation in addition to paying a $300 fine, a $960 prosecution fee and restitution in an amount to be determined, under District Judge Phillip Corley’s order Friday.
The trooper was on patrol about 12:30 pm on Feb. 27 in Payne County on Highway 51 near WestPoint Road when he stopped the SUV with an expired paper tag and learned that Armbruster’s driver’s license had expired in May of 2015, the vehicle did not have insurance, and she had an outstanding larceny warrant, according to his affidavit.
While the trooper was walking around the front of his patrol car to the passenger side to tell Armbruster she was under arrest, Armbruster got out of the patrol car and tried to flee, the affidavit said.
As the trooper was attempting to gain compliance with Armbruster, the passenger, later identified as convicted sex offender Tiffany Denise Whitley, 43, of Stillwater, got out of the SUV and began screaming, the affidavit said. While still trying to detain Armbruster, the trooper ordered Whitley back into the SUV, but then Armbruster struck the trooper in his face and tried to flee to the SUV, the affidavit said.
Even though the trooper struck Armbruster’s face to try to gain compliance, Armbruster managed to run back to the SUV and yell for Whitley to move to the driver’s seat, the affidavit said. After Armbruster made it into the passenger seat, the trooper tried to get her out, but he was again pushed and struck by Armbruster, his affidavit said.
When the trooper saw that Whitley was trying to get the already-running car into drive, he feared he would be dragged and killed or run over by the SUV, so he disengaged, the affidavit said. Armbruster closed the passenger door of the SUV, which fled north on WestPoint Road, the affidavit said.
“The pursuit ended in less than one mile when Whitley wrecked the vehicle,” which left the road and rolled multiple times in the pasture, the affidavit said. The trooper saw Armbruster flee on foot into the woods, but when he made his way across a fence to the SUV, he saw that Whitley was injured and lying near the car, the affidavit said.
The trooper “remained with Whitley to provide aid and get an ambulance on scene and did not pursue Armbruster,” who was tracked by Stillwater Police Officer Newly McSpadden’s K-9 to a church campgrounds area near McElroy Road where she was found inside a small outbuilding near a pool, the affidavit said.
Armbruster was arrested by the trooper, but Whitley was determined by medical personnel to be severely injured and flown to a Tulsa hospital for treatment, the affidavit said.
The trooper transported Ambruster to the Stillwater Medical Center emergency room where she was treated for her non-serious injuries before being taken to the Payne County Jail, the affidavit said.
Whitley, who was on nine years’ probation for sexting a 13-year-old boy in Stillwater in 2018, was charged with violating the Sex Offender Registration Act two months ago and ordered to appear in court on that felony on May 21, as well as on misdemeanor counts of reckless driving, obstructing the trooper and resisting arrest in the Feb. 27 incident involving Ambruster.
***
