Police Reports 3-22-23

Two men were booked on additional charges after a simple traffic violation caught the attention of officers.

On March 9, Tahlequah Police Officer Dylan Harman was patrolling the area of East Ward Street when he observed a driver who failed to signal while turning. The officer ran the tag number through dispatch and was informed the vehicle was reported stolen out of Broken Arrow. Harman conducted a traffic stop and held the driver, Barry Newberry, at gunpoint. Additional officers arrived to assist Harman with the felony stop. Newberry was uncooperative and wouldn’t follow officers’ commands. He was arrested after walking back to Harman’s patrol vehicle. Bosephus Wing was the passenger and he complied with officers. Newberry refused to give his name and appeared intoxicated. Harman said Newberry urinated on himself. The vehicle was searched and officers found an opened bottle of vodka between the center console and the driver’s seat. Newberry was booked for possession of a stolen vehicle, driving under the influence, driving under suspension, obstructing an officer, and transporting an open container. Wing was booked for public intoxication. Both men were booked on tribal charges.

Officer Mitchell Sellers was flagged down by a woman at Love’s Country Store March 10. The woman said she parked her black Hover scooter on the side of the building. She came out of the store to find her scooter gone. Sellers was on patrol the next day and spotted Elias Saavedra on College Avenue, with a black scooter. The man admitted the scooter wasn’t his and he got it at Love’s. Saavedra reportedly said he took the scooter “so no one would steal it,” and he planned to return it. He was arrested and booked for petit larceny.

On March 12, Officer Caleb Murray was securing the restrooms at the pavilion when he found Kyle Bauer sitting on the floor and charging a phone. The officer had previous dealings with the man several times and told him he couldn’t be “camping” in the restrooms at any of the parks. Murray went to detain the man but he pulled away and was taken to the ground. Bauer was taken to the Cherokee County Detention Center and booked for trespassing and resisting an officer.

Sgt. Robbie Bacon was dispatched to Water Avenue March 13 due to a man who spilled trash on the ground after knocking over a trashcan. Officer Steffon Herd advised he was on contact with Taylor Burnett, who admitted to knocking over the trashcan at Love’s, after getting into a verbal argument with his boyfriend. Employees of the store wanted to press charges and Burnett was arrested for disturbing the peace.

On March 7, Lt. Justin Leatherwood was called to Walmart in regard to a man who allegedly failed to pay for $160 worth of merchandise. Employees said Guadalupe Cerda-Flores concealed meat in two ice chests and didn’t pay for the items. Flores was transported to jail and booked.