(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater man from whose home police reportedly recovered five vehicles full of tools, ammunition and guns has been ordered to appear in court June 2 on charges of breaking into Cowboy Cars and Trout Automotive, along with possessing firearms and methamphetamine.
When police served a search warrant at his residence on May 2, Richard Merrill Cude Jr., 28, whose five-year-old daughter was in the home, “was upset and kept repeating, ‘I’m going to jail for 10 years for this,"” Stillwater Police Officer Kyle Bruce alleged in an affidavit.
Three months earlier, Cude had been placed on five years’ probation in Oklahoma County for possessing stolen property in Edmond in 2013, court records show.
On May 2, Stillwater police found numerous shotguns and rifles, as well as ammunition, at Cude’s house, the affidavit alleged.
“I do not have a count of the number of rounds of ammunition found, but would say the number exceeds 5,000 rounds,” Bruce alleged in his affidavit.
“Officers found a bag of crystal meth weighing 3 grams. Officers found hundreds of tools inside the residence,” including sockets with engraved initials of one of the victims from Trout Automotive, the affidavit alleged.
“Officers inside the house told me they found several firearms in the hall closet and middle bedroom. Cude said, ‘I’m a felon and I know I can’t have those,"” the affidavit alleged
Cude “wanted to let me know he kept them in a locked room so his daughter could not get to them. I asked Cude if the guns were stolen and he said, ‘probably.’
“I told Cude I needed to talk to him about the tools he was selling on Ebay. Cude broke eye contact and continued to say he was going to the pen,” Bruce alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked Cude if it was fair to say the tools in the house were all stolen. Cude shook his head yes,” Bruce alleged in his affidavit.
“During the burglary at Cowboy Cars, the suspect cut themselves on a broken window at the point of entry into the building. I pointed to Cude’s leg and said, ‘You cut it pretty bad when you broke into the building.’ Cude looked at the leg and said, ‘yes,"” Bruce alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked Cude about the burglary at Trout Automotive. Cude at first didn’t remember this burglary. When I told him items he had listed on Ebay were from this burglary, he asked, ‘Is that by the Post Office?’
“Cude admitted to breaking into the business and stealing the tools and a car parked at the business. I asked Cude if tools from this burglary were located in his house and he said yes,” Bruce alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked Cude if there was an addiction he was trying to feed. Cude shook his head yes. Cude did not want to say the word meth in front of his daughter, so he spelled it out for me.
“I asked Cude if there was times he would trade the stolen tools for meth. Cude said ‘yes.’ I asked Cude if there was meth in the house, and he said in the drawer in the bedroom,” where he keeps the guns, Bruce alleged in his affidavit.
“Cude said he is currently out on a $50,000 appeal bond from a county in Kansas. I could not get Cude to provide me the details of the charges. Cude would say it was felony stalking and stolen property,” Bruce alleged in his affidavit.
Two days after his May 2 arrest on the Payne County charges, Cude was released from jail after posting $25,000 bond, court records show.
If convicted of his four-count charge in Payne County, Cude could be given a 34-year prison term, court records show.
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