(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Stillwater man on probation for two burglaries in Delaware County has been charged in Payne County with breaking into two car wash businesses in Perkins – one on Dec. 6 and the other on Nov. 14.
Richard Lee Schaffer, 32, who was also accused of possessing methamphetamine at the time of his arrest, remains in the Payne County Jail on $20,000 bail pending a Jan. 7 court appearance on his new charges, court records show.
Due to his criminal record, Schaffer could be given as much as two life prison terms plus one year in jail if convicted of his three-count charge filed Dec. 7, court records show.
Perkins Police Investigator Charles Danker was contacted at 11:08 a.m. on Dec. 6 by Police Chief Bob Ernst that “the suspect that committed the burglary at Hometown Car Wash on S. Main back in November was currently back at that location committing another burglary,” an affidavit alleged.
“Perkins Police Chief Bob Ernst, Deputy Chief Steve Hensley, Officer Daryn Zanfardino and myself responded to that location,” but were unable to locate the suspect there, but found him walking in the area of SE First Street and E. Stumbo Street, the investigator wrote in his affidavit.
When the police chief asked Schaffer if he had just committed a burglary, Schaffer said yes, the affidavit alleged.
“I removed a Dewalt drill from inside the waistband of his pants. Deputy Chief Steve Hensley located a white sack containing a large amount of quarters in his right coat pocket and a Dewalt drill battery in his left front pants pocket,” the investigator alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked Richard what happened at the car wash and he said his buddy told him about it. He just got out of jail and needed some money, and it is quick money so he did it and got caught,” the investigator alleged in his affidavit.
“I informed him about another burglary that took place on Nov. 14, 2018, at Roper’s Car Wash on State Highway 33 in Perkins. I told Richard that the male subject on video in that case looked like him. Richard said he looked around at the car wash and was thinking about it, but backed out. I asked if he had been to prison and he said no.
“I asked what he had been in jail for and he said breaking and entering of a car wash in Delaware County last year. I asked if that was his thing for quick money, and he said at the time yea and he was being stupid then like he is now,” the investigator alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked what he was going to use the money for and he said cigarettes and food. Richard said he has a drug problem, but he didn’t need the money for that because people give him drugs,” the investigator alleged in his affidavit.
When Schaffer was taken to the Payne County Jail, a baggy of suspected methamphetamine was found in Schaffer’s back pocket by jail staff, the affidavit alleged.
On the same day that the felony car wash burglary charges were filed, Schaffer was also accused of having shoplifted automotive parts from Walmart on Perkins Road on Feb. 14, 2017.
In Payne County, Schaffer had previously been charged with:
* shoplifting an Apple iPhone 6 on Feb. 12, 2017, from a Walmart customer service employee’s counter in Stillwater on Perkins Road, for which he was ordered to pay restitution;
* shoplifting a package of automotive light bulbs on Feb. 24, 2017, from a Walmart in Stillwater, for which he was ordered to pay restitution;
* possessing methamphetamine in 2016 for which on March 10, 2017, he was placed on five years’ probation that he admitted violating, but when he failed to appear in court on July 12, 2018, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest;
* concealing stolen property in 2016 for which on March 10, 2017, he was placed on five years’ probation that he admitted violating, but when he failed to appear in court on July 12, 2018, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest;
* malicious injury to property by breaking a hospital bed rail and also public intoxication at the Stillwater Medical Center emergency room on Sept. 22, 2015, for which he was placed on probation for one year on March 13, 2017.
According to Delaware County court records, Schaffer, who previously lived in Eucha, was convicted on Dec. 28, 2017, of two counts of second-degree burglary in Jay, for which he was placed on probation for seven years.
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