Local, State briefs
BY Staff Reports
Thursday, January 17, 2013
1/17/13 at 3:02 AM
Tulsa police: Officer on limited duty after stabbing man
A Tulsa police officer has been placed on restrictive duty after he stabbed a man who reportedly tried to grab his gun during a traffic stop last week, police said.
Officer Tyler Turnbough, a three-year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department, tried to pull over a vehicle in the 500 block of North Xenophon Avenue about 12:50 p.m. Saturday, said Officer Leland Ashley, a Tulsa Police Department spokesman.
The driver, a 38-year-old man, stopped in the 600 block of North Union Avenue.
After getting out of the vehicle, the man began performing push-ups and then tried to flee when officers used pepper spray in an attempt to subdue him, Ashley said.
During the ensuing struggle, the man reportedly tried to grab Turnbough's gun, and the officer then stabbed him five times with a knife, Ashley said.
The man was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, Ashley said. His identity will not be released until he is charged, he said.
"The officer was trying to protect himself," said Ashley, who added that some officers carry knives while on duty. "He was fighting for his life."
Turnbough, 35, was not injured, Ashley said.
He is expected to remain on restrictive duty until an internal investigation is completed, he said.
- KENDRICK MARSHALL, World Staff Writer
Hearing for 3 Victory Christian staff members is postponed
A Tulsa County judge rescheduled a hearing Wednesday morning for several Victory Christian staff members who are accused of not reporting child abuse at the church.
Tulsa County Special Judge Bill Hiddle moved the hearing for associate youth pastor Paul Howard Willemstein, 32; high school outreach program director Anna Alisa George, 24; and former human resources director Harold Frank Sullivan, 73, to Feb. 13.
Five Victory Christian staff members, including the son and daughter-in-law of Victory Christian Senior Pastor Sharon Daugherty, face a misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse on allegations that they didn't report to authorities the rape of a 13-year-old girl at the church for two weeks.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Sarah McAmis declined to comment on plea deal negotiations.
McAmis said she thinks the judge will move an upcoming hearing for John and Charica Daugherty to Feb. 13, as well.
Former church employee Chris Denman, 20, pleaded guilty last year to six felony sex crimes against children, including the rape of the 13-year-old. The charges also involve two other girls, ages 15 and 12.
He was sentenced to 55 years in prison and five years of probation.
— JARREL WADE, World Staff Writer
March 12 execution is slated for killer of Bixby woman
OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday set a March 12 execution for Mayes County killer Stephen Ray Thacker, 42.
Thacker was sentenced to die for the slaying of Laci Dawn Hill, 25, of Bixby.
Thacker met Hill in her home on Dec. 23, 1999, after answering an ad about a pool table.
He kidnapped her, took her to a rural cabin and raped her. He attempted to strangle Hill but instead stabbed her in the chest and neck.
He fled to Missouri, where he killed Forrest Reed Boyd and stole his car along with his credit cards.
Thacker then drove to Tennessee where the car broke down. He called a tow truck and then murdered its driver, Ray Patterson, after Patterson confronted him about a stolen credit card.
Thacker was apprehended in Tennessee.
He was given the death sentence in Tennessee for killing Patterson and a life term in Missouri for killing Boyd.
- from the World Capitol Bureau
Store left in shambles after apparent burglary attempt
A Tulsa police officer responding to a burglary alarm at a convenience store found the front of the business heavily damaged by a vehicle Wednesday.
Police were called to the Shell gas station near Pine Street and U.S. 169 about 2 a.m. after dispatchers received a call that a burglar alarm at the business had been tripped.
A south-facing partial wall was struck, shattering the store's front doors and several windows and toppling several 12-foot displays of grocery items.
Investigators determined that a pickup apparently drove through the doors after an unsuccessful attempt to gain entry by backing into the business, said Cpl. Dan Miller.
A pickup with a stolen license plate was found burning south of the business around the time of the burglary attempt, he said.
The vehicle contained a large logging chain that investigators believe the burglars might have used to try to steal the store's ATM.
Detectives were trying to find a legible identification number on the pickup and were awaiting the store's surveillance recordings later Wednesday.
Anyone with more information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS, online at tulsaworld.com/crimestoppers or via text message at CRIMES. Text tips should begin with "Tip918." Tipsters can be anonymous and could receive a reward.
- AMANDA BLAND, World Staff Writer
Woman charged with keeping mom's body due mental exam
EUFAULA - A woman who is charged with desecration of a corpse after her mother's body was found wrapped in a sheet in a garage in November will be sent to the Oklahoma Forensic Center for a mental evaluation.
At a Wednesday hearing, McIntosh County Associate District Judge Jim Pratt ordered Shelly Maytubby, 52, taken to the Vinita hospital and the results of the examination returned to him no later than Jan. 30.
Pratt scheduled a potential competency hearing for Feb. 20.
Maytubby was arrested Nov. 27 after sheriff's deputies found the body of Erlene McCune, 79, hidden in the garage.
Officers began looking for the woman several days earlier, after family members became concerned when they couldn't reach her.
Maytubby had checked McCune out of an assisted living facility in Lawrence, Kan., two months before she was reported missing.
Assistant District Attorney Crieg Rittenhouse said the medical examiner has not released a cause of death for McCune, who suffered from dementia.
He said Maytubby claimed that her mother had died of an unknown cause and that she didn't want to take her to a funeral home.
Maytubby's bail was set at $50,000.
A hearing set for Jan. 23 has been put on hold pending the results of the mental evaluation.
— JERRY FINK, World Correspondent
Probe sought into possible Muskogee Public Schools fraud
MUSKOGEE - Muskogee Public Schools has asked police to investigate the possible embezzlement of thousands of dollars by an employee.
The alleged embezzlement took place from August 2011 to May 2012.
Lt. Bobby Lee said investigators will forward their findings to the Muskogee County District Attorney's Office.
Lee would not release any additional information.
— SUSAN HYLTON, World Staff Writer
Associated Images:
Police officers who responded to an alarm call at the Shell gas station at 11015 E. Pine St. early Wednesday found that a south-facing partial wall had been struck, shattering the store's front doors and several windows. AMANDA BLAND/Tulsa World
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