By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater man was released Wednesday from the Payne County Jail on $20,000 total bail on charges of felony drunk driving as well as leaving the scene of a crash on Highway 51 at Highway 18 on March 6, and also on charges of felony drunk driving along with transporting an open container in Stillwater on Jan. 2.
At the time of his latest cases, Dale Wayne Clawson, 56, who previously lived in Cushing and Yale, was on probation for drunk driving as a misdemeanor in Drumright in 2022, Creek County court records show.
In his new Payne County DUI charge, Clawson was arrested at 9:19 pm on March 6 after being spotted by Stillwater Police Officer Josh Rudluff with the victim’s bumper still attached to the front bumper of Clawson’s pickup truck, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Tyler Baxter alleged in an affidavit.
On March 6, Clawson was driving a gray Ford F-250 pickup truck westbound on SH 51 at SH 18 when he struck another vehicle from behind and left the scene westbound on SH 51, the trooper alleged in his affidavit.
After Clawson was located in Stillwater, the trooper responded from the collision scene at the intersection of SH 51 and SH 18 to where the Stillwater officer had Clawson under investigative detention, the affidavit said.
Clawson said that he had not been drinking though the trooper smelled alcohol on Clawson, who was unsteady on his feet and had thick slurred speech as well as glassy eyes, the affidavit alleged. Clawson refused to take sobriety tests and was arrested before being taken to the Payne County Jail, the affidavit said.
The driver of the other vehicle, a 2010 Volkswagen, “complained of injury at the scene and was checked out by the Cushing Fire Department,” before being transported by private vehicle to the Stillwater Medical Center, the affidavit said.
In his newest DUI charge, Clawson has been ordered to appear in court on March 14 with an attorney; in his Jan. 2 DUI charge, Clawson has been ordered to appear in court on April 3 when he can seek a preliminary hearing, court records show.
Felony drunk driving carries a penalty on conviction of one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000.
