By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 69-year-old Guthrie man has been jailed on $100,000 bail on a charge of committing a robbery by fear at an OnCue store in Stillwater after three prior felony convictions — including armed robbery 25 years ago.
Daniel Bruce Farrow, who was released from prison three years ago, remains in the Payne County Jail pending an Oct. 5 court appearance on the felony charge punishable by 30 years to life in prison, due to his criminal record.
Farrow was arrested by Stillwater police less than an hour after the 3:17 pm robbery at the OnCue at 1402 S. Perkins Road on Sept. 14, an affidavit said.
The suspect was described as a “heavy-set older white male wearing a dark-colored hoodie and blue jeans,” who left on a black mountain bike westbound on 15th Avenue, an affidavit said.
“Dispatch also advised that the suspect may have a gun in his sweatshirt; however, the suspect did not pull it out,” Stillwater Police Officer Eric McKinney wrote in an affidavit.
“Since other officers were in the area looking for the suspect, I responded to the store to speak with the clerks,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
The cashier said “the suspect entered the business through the east doors and walked around the business for a few moments before approaching the counter,” where he “placed his right hand into the front pocket of his hoodie and pointed to the register with his left hand and asked for a pack of cigarettes,” the affidavit said.
After the clerk retrieved the cigarettes and started to ring them up, “Daniel pointed to the register and he told him, ‘Open it up,"” the affidavit alleged. The clerk said “he asked Daniel what he wanted him to open, so Daniel pointed with his left hand to the register and stated ‘The register, Open the register,"” the affidavit alleged.
The clerk said “he believed he saw the outline of a gun in the front pocket of Daniel’s hoodie where his right hand was located,” the affidavit alleged.
The clerk said “he was scared so he started to open the register,” which was taking some time, the affidavit alleged. The clerk said “Daniel was becoming agitated and yelled at him, telling him to ‘open it,"” the affidavit alleged.
“Once Daniel had the cash in hand, he left out of the east doors, got onto his bicycle and drove south through the parking lot and then turned westbound onto 15th before employees lost sight of him,” the affidavit alleged.
The clerk said “when Daniel was pointing at the register with his left hand, he saw that Daniel was missing part of his left index finger,” the affidavit alleged.
Another clerk said, “she saw Daniel’s hand in the front pocket of his hoodie and was scared he had a gun,” since he had a “bladed stance,” the affidavit alleged.
When the manager pulled up the video, the suspect’s face was clearer since he walked around the store without the hood on his head, the affidavit alleged.
“After a few moments, Detective Lt. Manuel advised me he had located a male subject matching the description of the suspect and asked me to bring the clerk down (to 500 E. 16th) to see if it was him,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
The cashier “looked at Daniel and looked at Daniel’s missing finger before very quickly telling me it was Daniel who robbed the business,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
“As I was conducting a search of his person, I found $116 in various bills of US currency in his left pants pocket along with a disposable blue paper mask. I also found $135 in various bills of US currency in his wallet that was in his back pocket,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
“Once I placed handcuffs on Daniel, he asked me why he was under arrest and I told him he was under arrest for robbery. Daniel denied committing the robbery and told me I was wrong…I did not locate a firearm or other weapon on Daniel at the time of the arrest. During the booking process, pictures were taken of his tattoos and missing finger on his left hand,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
“I seized all of the money Daniel had on him, as well as the mask that was in his pocket, which matched the description of the mask the suspect wore during the robbery,” in which the manager said $295 was stolen, the officer wrote in his affidavit.
According to state Department of Corrections and court records, Farrow had previously been convicted of a 1995 armed robbery in Kingfisher County, was given a 30-year prison term and served 15 years before being released in 2011. In 2012 Farrow was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon and two second-degree burglaries in Logan County, given three concurrent 15-year prison terms, and served five years before his release three years ago.
At the time of the Stillwater robbery, Farrow was free on $5,000 bond pending his Oct. 16 trial court arraignment on a 2019 charge of third-degree burglary of a Ford F-150 owned by Waste Connections in Guthrie, Logan County court records show.
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