(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Perkins man has pleaded guilty to the unauthorized use of a John Deere loader that had been rented by an energy company from a Stillwater firm.
Thomas Joseph Hennessey III, 24, remains free on a personal recognizance bond pending his May 2 sentencing by Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler.
Hennessey has a plea bargain for three years’ probation, a $500 fine, a $960 prosecution reimbursement fee, a $100 contribution to the victims’ compensation fund and a requirement that he perform 75 hours of community service within a year, court records show.
Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Doyle Carey wrote in an affidavit that on March 12, 2013, he was asked by Investigator Larry Kitchel to follow up on a stolen backhoe from Kinnunen Rentals in Stillwater.
“The backhoe had been recovered just south of 68th and Lawson and GPS tracking had placed it,” behind a house in rural Yale, the affidavit said.
A woman there said that Hennessey, her brother, “has been at her residence on Saturday working on their septic system,” the affidavit said.
“Hennessey told me he had borrowed the backhoe on Saturday (in March 2013) from Calyx Energy, and forgotten to call and tell them,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
“I spoke with Greg Hughes with Kinnunen Rentals and he confirmed that the backhoe was rented by Calyx Energy. Hughes also stated he wished to press charges against Hennessey.
“I spoke with a representative of Calyx Energy who told me Hennessey did not have permission to have the backhoe and had not called to tell anyone he had taken it,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
“Hennessey told me he had taken the backhoe from the Calyx location at 92nd and Mehan because his brother’s pickup was stuck on Dunkin Road just east of Highway 108,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
“Hennessey told me he took it to his sister’s house,” in rural Yale, the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
“Hennessey stated he concealed the backhoe behind her house while he worked on his brother’s pickup.
“He stated from there he took the backhoe just south of 68th and Lawson on a lease road and left it there,” the affidavit said.
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