Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Okla. Jail Guard Busted For Sneaking Drug-Stuffed Burrito Into Work

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Kevin Mayo,

TULSA, Oklahoma — A jail guard was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs he stashed inside the burrito he had brought to work for lunch.

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s office say they began investigating 20-year-old Kevin Clevon Mayo after receiving a tip he was sneaking contraband into the Tulsa Jail.

As he arrived for work last Friday, Mayo was stopped and his bag searched. Inside, officers found a Tupperware container containing fried chicken and the burrito.

Concealed inside the burrito was about four grams of marijuana, some crushed-up hydrocodone pills and two grams of methamphetamine, the Tulsa World reported.

They also found two cell phone chargers, rolling papers and three cigarette lighters and a cell phone battery. And stuffed inside Mayo’s sock was a cell phone still in its packaging, authorities said.

Mayo initially denied knowing how the drugs in the burrito ended up in his bag or why he had a cellphone in his sock, cops said.

He later admitted meeting with the friend of an inmate at the jail who gave him the phone to bring to the inmate. Police say he also said he successfully brought a phone into the jail a few weeks earlier.

Mayo, who started on the job in March, was charged with carrying contraband into a jail, possession of drug paraphernalia, conspiracy to commit a felony, possession of marijuana with intent and two counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent.

He has been placed on administrative leave without pay.

Video Captures Two Bumbling Crooks Getting Outsmarted by Runaway Truck

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

 

Thieves Battle Runaway Truck

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s almost as if the truck didn’t want to be stolen.

Cops are hunting for a pair of bumbling crooks who were caught on camera attempting to steal a pickup truck from an auto lot in Oklahoma, but failing miserably when the vehicle rolled away from them.

The two men walked onto the lot of Reynolds Ford in Oklahoma City late in the night on March 27 with their eyes on a white Ford F-150.

Cops say the criminals managed to unlock the vehicle’s transmission before they managed to get inside, which set the truck rolling backwards across the lot in neutral.

One of the men is seen frantically trying to stop the vehicle rolling by yanking on the driver’s side door handle. The other wannabe thief then opened fire at the side window with a pellet gun, presumably so they could get inside to stop the truck, but the glass didn’t break.

Eventually, the truck stopped by itself after rolling several dozen feet, but by that time, the two exasperated criminals had given up and fled. Police say the vehicle was later taken from the lot but has since been recovered.

Although the two unidentified men remain at large, cops said they appreciate the comic relief they have provided.

“As police officers, we see all sides of life. We have a front row seat to the terribly sad and the extremely funny. That being said, this video falls into the category of the extremely funny,” the Oklahoma City Police department said.

Ex-Oklahoma Football Player Charged With Pimping Out Cheerleader Gal Pal

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Parker (r) is charged with selling herself for sex at the behest of her boyfriend, Moore (l)

OKLAHOMA CITY — A former University of Oklahoma football player has been charged with pimping out an ex-cheerleader who is the daughter the team’s cheer coach, police said.

Undercover cops busted former cheerleader Micah Parker, 23, on March 30 after arranging online to meet her at an Oklahoma City motel to have sex for $200, KOCO-TV reported.

They say Parker attempted to throw several cell phones down the toilet as officers entered the room. They also found burnt marijuana and pharmaceutical drugs.

After her arrest, police say they busted 22-year-old Lawrence “LJ” Moore when he came to the hotel to pick up her car. A search of social media and jailhouse phone conversations between the two suggested that Moore was working as Parker’s pimp, police said.

Moore, who hails from California, had signed on to join the Oklahoma team as a cornerback in 2013 but played in only two games before leaving the team. Parker had been a cheerleader at the time Moore was on the team. JohnTV — an Oklahoma media outlet that focuses on vice crime — reported that Parker’s mother had once been the team’s cheerleading coach.

Parker was charged with destruction of evidence, offering to engage in an act of prostitution, and two counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Moore, who has felony assault arrests in California, was hit with charges of aiding and abetting prostitution, pandering, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, and possession of marijuana.

Parker during her cheerleading days

 

Moore during his brief stint on the Oklahoma team

 

 

Corrupt Oklahoma Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Letting People Smoke Meth in His House

By HardBoiledNews Staff 1 Comment

Joe Russell ran Love County with and iron hand since 2001

MARIETTA, Oklahoma — Boss Hogg lives!

The former sheriff of Love County in Oklahoma has pleaded guilty to corruption charges stemming from letting people smoke meth in his home and not arresting his son’s fugitive girlfriend while she stayed with the family but slapping the cuffs on her after they broke up.

Joe Russell, 63, resigned from office last October after serving as sheriff since 2001. Russell was arrested in July and booked into his own prison on a variety of corruption charges, mostly revolving around him looking the other way as people took drugs in his house while he was home on two occasions in the spring.

He was also accused of his son’s girlfriend, Sara Bamburg, who had multiple warrants out for her arrest, stay at his house for a couple of weeks last year.

She told investigators that the sheriff’s son, George “Willie” Russell had told her “As long as you are here dating me, you are not going to get arrested.”

Sure enough, when the couple broke up a short while later and she moved in with someone else, she was arrested.

The younger Russell was sentenced to federal prison last year for selling meth to an undercover agent.

Russell’s office had been the focus of an FBI probe related to his son’s conviction and an episode where the sheriff allowed his nephew, James Conn Nipp,  who had been arrested for leading cops on a high-speed chase and has been eyed in the disappearance of two local teens, meet with relatives unsupervised in a room where evidence in his case was being kept.

Nipp had since been sentenced to 10 years for the police chase.

Russell pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of willful omission to perform a duty and was sentenced to one-year on probation.

 

Drunken Creep Offers Girl Scouts Booze in Exchange for Cookies

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Jerry Swanson thought a bottle of booze in exchange for Girl Scout cookies was a fair trade

ARDMORE, Oklahoma — A drunken stumblebum became one creepy cookie when he approached a group of Girl Scouts and offered to trade them his vodka for a box of Girl Scout cookies.

Police in Ardmore, Oklahoma say 45-year-old Jerry Swanson was busted after making the cringe-worthy request at a shopping mall on Saturday.

“They were trying to sell their girl scout cookies and apparently a male subject approached them, asked them if he could trade vodka for Girl Scout cookies,” Ardmore Police Captain Keith Ingle told KXII-TV.

The girls were unharmed, but when cops got to the scene they say Swanson was so drunk, he could barely stand.

“He didn’t have anything to say about it, he didn’t even know what they were talking about. He was unsteady on his feet and basically had to place him in the police car and barely able to walk,” Ingle said.

When Swanson was arrested, cops didn’t find any bottles of alcohol on him, but say he smelled strongly of booze. He was charged with public intoxication and booked into the Carter County jail.    Court record show that Swanson has at least two prior arrested for domestic abuse.

“You shouldn’t say things like that to underage kids anyway, even if you are joking,” Ingle said.

 

 

Choir Class Takes Indecent Turn With Teacher’s Commando Cartwheel

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Lacey Sponsler got this one all upside down

PAWHUSKA, Oklahoma — If she had just been teaching an anatomy class, this all would have been fine.

Police in Pawhuska, Oklahoma arrested a substitute school teacher after she allegedly flashed students by performing a cartwheel in front of them while wearing no underwear beneath her skirt.

“It was alleged that a substitute teacher had performed a cartwheel, with no under garments on, which caused her to expose herself to the students in this class,” Chief Scott Laird said.

Officers busted 34-year-old Lacey Dawn Sponsler on indecent exposure charges after the episode on Tuesday in front of a choir class.

Police say a student filmed the incident on his cell phone.

Sponsler initially denied the incident, police said, but when she was told about the cell phone video, she stated she “did not remember performing a cartwheel” or exposing herself, according to the arrest affidavit.

Ex-Oral Roberts Prof Holds Saleswoman Hostage, Chases Her Naked Down Street

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Karan Rebitzke had a captive audience to her ranting about God

OWASSO, Oklahoma — She probably regrets getting her foot in this door.

A door-to-door saleswoman was held hostage by an unhinged homeowner who then chased after her naked when she managed to escape.

Owasso, Oklahoma police say Karan Rebitzke, a one-time English professor at nearby Oral Roberts University, invited the salesperson into her home and then started ranting about religion and God.

The saleswoman said she grew uncomfortable and tried to leave several times, but Rebitzke, 44, blocked her from getting out the door.

After an hour, the woman managed to escape, but Rebitzke stripped her clothes and gave chase through the streets, KJRH-TV reported.

Rebitzke eventually gave up and went back to her house. When officers arrived at the home, Rebitzke allegedly opened the door naked and then slammed it in the deputies’ faces several times.

She eventually was arrested and  taken to the Tulsa County Jail. She was charged with kidnapping, assault and resisting arrest and held on $25,000 bond.

Case Dropped Against Deaf Man Accused of Resisting Orders He Couldn’t Hear

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

This is what Pearl Pearson looked like after his encounter with Oklahoma police

OKLAHOMA CITY — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a  deaf man who was allegedly roughed up by cops during a traffic stop after he couldn’t understand their orders.

Pearl Pearson, 66, said he had tried to inform the two Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers that he was deaf and can only communicate through sign language. His lawyers said his car has a placard in the window stating that the driver is deaf and that Pearson’s license also notes it.

In court documents, police accused Pearson of resisting arrest. Video from the police stop showed the officers yelling at Pearson and yanking him out of his vehicle. Mugshots taken that day showed Pearson with swelling around his eyes and bruising to his face.

The officers initially were suspended by the department but prosecutors opted not to charge them. Instead, they filed misdemeanor charges against Pearson for resisting arrest.

In the end, prosecutors decided the cost of providing Pearson with interpreters for the trial, which was slated to begin next week, outweighed the “public interest.”

“It is the District Attorney’s responsibility to be a good steward of the taxpayer’s money,” District Attorney David Prater wrote in court filings. “Though it is important to prosecute matters to promote public safety and assure that the State of Oklahoma’s laws are enforced, the financial burden placed on the State to prosecute a matter is a legitimate consideration; especially as in this case, the matter is a misdemeanor.”

Prater had estimated the cost of the trial could exceed $40,000.

Oklahoma Town Opens Fire on Water Tower To Save it From Collapse

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

 

Ice from a leak that has collected on Maud’s water tower is threatening to bring it down

MAUD, Oklahoma  — When in doubt, shoot it.

Officials in Maud, Oklahoma came up with a 12-gauge solution to fend off the possibility that the town water tower could collapse, opening fire with a shotgun to try to break up thick ice forming around its base from a leak.

“We took a few shots and tried to knock the ice off.  Didn’t work very well,” Maud City Clerk Don Zeller told KWTV-TV.

Apparently, the ice was just too thick to shatter.

Engineers have warned that the 90-year-old tower is in danger of collapse from the weight of the ice. So city officials knew they had to act quickly, as there was a chance that if the tower fell, it could take down power lines, which would leave the town without water or electricity.

The tower began leaking around Christmas, and froze solid during a cold snap last week. The city now plans to fix the leak until it can replace the almost 90-year-old water tower.

“This was uncharted territory for us,” Zeller said. “So, we were just kinda flying by the seat of our pants by doing the best we could.”

Phones, Cigars Found Stuffed In Footballs Tossed into Oklahoma Prison Yard

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Officers found dozens contraband items stuffed inside these balls that were tossed over the fence into the prison yard

HOMINY, Oklahoma — Prison gives a person a lot of time to get creative.

Corrections officer at a prison in Oklahoma busted up a smuggling ring in which dozens of contraband items hidden inside footballs and basketballs were snuck into the prison by people outside tossing them over the fence into the yard.

The scheme came unwound on Christmas Day when officers spotted inmate Marcus Mitchell walking around the common area of the Dick Conner Correctional Center carrying a large bag filled with items. Mitchell, 27, is serving a life sentence for beating a 15-month-old baby to death.

Marcus Mitchell is serving a life term

When officers stopped him, they found six footballs and two basketballs inside that had been cut open and filled with contraband and then taped shut.

A review of perimeter security camera footage showed unidentified people throwing the balls over the fence shortly before Mitchell was caught.

Among the items found stashed inside included: 39 Cellphones, three MP3 players, one Bluetooth earpiece, nine cell phone chargers, 20 USB cords, packages of rolling paper, four cigars and nearly 10 pounds of tobacco.

“I thank the vigilant correctional officer for his attention to detail and swift action,” Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh said. “Cellphones are one of the most dangerous things an inmate can get their hands on while in custody. They are able to harass victims, continue a criminal enterprise or communicate with other inmates to alert them of officers’ movements.”

“We will ensure this inmate and the other inmates the contraband was intended for will receive proper punishment and time added to their sentences. Additionally, if we catch the individuals responsible, we will press criminal charges and prosecute them to the furthest extent of the law,” he added.