Alva Review-Courier -

An 18-year-old from Alva is facing a felony charge in Woods County after allegedly stealing a vehicle with some underage friends.

Keaton Dale Smith, 18, of Alva, is charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors, a felony. This crime is punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not more than five years or a fine not to exceed $5,000 or both.

According to court records, on Jan. 8 about 11 p.m. Woods County Deputy Sheriff David Cummings was dispatched to Ellis Road at County Road 400 for a single vehicle rollover accident. He was advised no one was around the vehicle.

He arrived and observed the white dump truck style grain truck on its passenger side in the middle of the roadway. It appeared after it rolled over, the driver or occupants kicked out the bottom of the windshield, got out and left the scene.

Cummings found an Oklahoma license plane that had been in the cab of the truck. He requested an NCIC check which revealed Michael Martin of Alva as the possible owner. Cummings asked dispatch to try to contact Martin and find out who was driving. They did so, and Martin said he did not have anyone out working that night. He said the truck was probably stolen. At Cummings request, Martin later met him at the scene.

On the ground near the broken out windshield, Cummings saw a black folding pocket knife which he seized as evidence. Inside the truck cab he saw a black and pink Hooey brand ball cap which he also seized. He checked nearby fields and ditches for any occupants who might have been ejected and found none.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Justin Barney later arrived on the scene to work the accident.

When Martin arrived, he explained he parks his equipment on his property at Garvin Road and County Road 410 on the southeast corner. Martin said he did not want a wrecker. He opted to roll the vehicle over and get it off the roadway himself which he later did.

Cummings and Martin when to the location where the truck was stolen but they did not observe anything out of the ordinary. Martin said he last saw the truck about 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 8 and the keys were inside. Martin returned to the accident scene with a tractor and moved the truck into the nearby ditch which it was to remain overnight.

On Jan. 15, the ball cap was taken to the OSBI field lab in Enid for evidence analysis.

On Jan. 21, Deputy Cummings received information from a concerned citizen that Smith had confided he and two juveniles had stolen a wheat truck and rolled it. Smith also reportedly said they were out driving around drinking intoxicating beverages while driving his grandmother’s car. Smith said they were concerned because they could not find the hat belonging to one of the juveniles. The concerned citizen described the missing hat which matched the description of the ball cap found by Cummings.

On Jan. 21, Cummings interviewed Smith, who came in voluntarily, at the Woods County Sheriff’s Office. When confronted with the information obtained, Smith denied knowing anything about it saying he gets blamed for everything and he needed a good lawyer. He then requested the interview be ended.

On Jan. 30 Cummings executed a search warrant for DNA on one of the juveniles whose mother was also present. After obtaining and securing the swab, Cummings read the juvenile and his mother the Miranda warning and both waived their right to an attorney. According to the court affidavit, the juvenile said he, Smith and another juvenile were driving county roads drinking alcohol in Smith’s grandmother’s car when they stopped to urinate near the truck which was later stolen. The juvenile said he did not remember all the events due to being intoxicated, but that all three of the subjects jumped into the truck, and he was driving. He said when they wrecked, they got out through the windshield and he lost his ball cap which was a black, gray and pink Hooey brand cap. He said no one was hurt.

Later on Jan. 4, Cummings conducted an interview with the second juvenile and his mother. He said that he and the other juvenile stole the truck but would not say whose idea it was. He said the third party whom he would not identify was not in the truck, contradicting what the other juvenile said in his interview. He did say the other juvenile was driving when they wrecked.