(Stillwater) — A Tryon woman was charged Monday with leaving the scene of a non-fatal injury accident at 6:25 a.m. Sunday on U.S. 177 at 68th Street, driving under the influence of some intoxicating substance, possessing drug paraphernalia and failing to carry insurance.
Kathleen Elizabeth Groshong, 20, who is currently on probation for breaking into the Maverick Mini Mart in Ripley and committing another burglary two months later in Tryon in 2007, was released from the Payne County Jail Sunday on $5,000 bail, court records show.
If convicted of her Payne County charges in connection with the accident, Groshong could be given four years’ incarceration and $3,250 in fines, court records show.
Two years ago, Groshong was charged with Michael Robert Alston, now 25, of Tryon, and Shawna Alston, now 21, of Stillwater, with breaking the front window of the Maverick Mini Mart in Ripley on July 30, 2007, with the intent to steal beer and cigarettes.
A juvenile said that he was with Groshong and the Alstons at the Cushing Lake the night of the burglary “where they decided to go ‘rob the store in Ripley,"” according to an affidavit by Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy George Disel.
The juvenile said that he and Michael Alston broke into the store and stole the beer and cigarettes, the affidavit said.
The juvenile said that after they left Ripley, they all “partied and consumed the beer at the Cushing Lake spillway area,” the affidavit said.
The juvenile said that he is a long-time acquaintance of all three defendants, the affidavit said.
Groshong and Shawna Alston had told the deputy that they were in Groshong’s parents’ van with Michael Alston when they picked up an unknown male near Agra, the affidavit said. Both women said that they thought the two males got out of the van to use the restroom, but then returned with cases of beer and cigarettes, the affidavit said.
After Groshong pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary of the Maverick Mini Mart in Ripley, she was placed on five years’ probation in 2008, ordered to pay $558 restitution, and required to have a substance abuse evaluation, as well as complete any recommendations, court record show.
According to a background report compiled for the court, Groshong said that she started using drugs when she was 16 and used two or three times a week, with the last use about one and one-half months earlier. She said that she started drinking alcohol at 16 and did so a couple of times a year, with the last consumption about a month earlier, the report said.
“The defendant admitted to recent use of marijuana. The defendant has a history of substance abuse as evidenced by her juvenile and her driving record,” the report compiled for the court by Probation and Parole Officer Barbara Wintz said.
In the Ripley convenience store break-in, her co-defendants also received probation, with Michael Alston receiving a five-year suspended sentence, which prosecutors are now trying to revoke, and Shawna Alston receiving a three-year deferred sentence, court records show.
In the Tryon burglary that occurred two months later, Groshong was again charged with the same co-defendants, court records show. Groshong pleaded guilty to that Lincoln County charge for which she was given a five-year deferred sentence, court records show.
Michael Alston was given a five-year suspended sentence, which prosecutors are now trying to revoke in Lincoln County; Shawna Alston received a five-year deferred sentence, court records show.
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