A $50,000 bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Prague man on an arson charge and an Oklahoma City man has been charged along with him.
A formal felony charge of first degree arson was filed last month in Lincoln County District Court against Peyton Jade Nash, 22. The bench warrant was issued the same day he was charged.
Also charged was Daulton Boyd Matthews, 23, of Oklahoma City. He appeared before Associate District Judge Sheila Kirk who set his bond at $10,000.
She scheduled a prepreliminary hearing for Matthews on Jan. 19.
Nash and Matthews are accused on Dec. 5, 2022, of causing, aiding, counseling or procuring the burning of contents in the Lincoln County Jail, specifically burning books, a shower curtain and towel at the jail.
Prosecutors filed supplemental information on Matthews showing he has several prior convictions in the past four years.
According to the information, Matthews was convicted on Jan. 8, 2019 in Oklahoma County District Court of two counts of larceny of automobile, and one charge of possession of a stolen vehicle.
On Feb. 21, 2019 in Oklahoma County District Court he was convicted of Count 1, unauthorized use of a Motor Vehicle, a felony and Count 2, attempted escape from a penal institution, also a felony.
On March 28, 2019, in Oklahoma County District Court, Matthews was convicted of the felony offense of aggravated eluding a police officer and also the felony offense of larceny of an automobile.
Lincoln County Deputy Sheriff Christopher Hyde, in a probable cause affidavit, states that on Dec. 5 around 1:30 p.m. he was one the scene of an unrelated investigation when Lt. Tony Long requested additional units to the jail due a fire that had been set in the north side men’s pod.
Hyde said he and several other deputies responded as requested to assist and that Long, using a fire extinguisher, had extinguished the fire before they arrived.
Hyde said he reviewed camera footage of the north side men’s pod prior to and during the fire.
He reported that an inmate identified as Matthews rips a plastic shower curtain off a rod in the dayroom area of the pod throwing it on the floor in the middle of the dayroom. Hyde states shortly after that Matthews can be seen gathering books which later were found burned along with the shower curtain.
Matthews reportedly is seen bringing a white sheet into the dayroom and hands one end to Nash. Both inmates stood on dining tables and tied the shower curtain to the exterior bars to block the view of the security camera, the deputy stated.
Later, both inmates were interviewed and neither would admit to setting the fire or having an involvement in the fire, Hyde states in the affidavit.