A preliminary hearing has been continued for a driver in a high speed pursuit that reportedly started in Perkins, went down U.S. 177 clear to I-40 and ended at the Dale Middle School after partially running through a farmer’s wheat field.
The driver, identified as Roderick David Pope, Jr., 34, was finally arrested by Pottawatomie County deputies as he attempted to flee after crashing his car into an awning at the Dale Middle School.
On April 3, Pope was formally charged in Lincoln County District Court with felony eluding/ attempting to elude police officer, unauthorized use of a vehicle and driving without a valid driver’s license, a misdemeanor.
His preliminary hearing had been scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 18. It’s now set for Nov. 17.
The pursuit reportedly reached speeds of 105 miles per hour and the vehicle being pursued was stolen. The pursuit spanned over parts of three counties, Lincoln, Pottawatomie and Payne.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy James Robinson said in a probable cause affidavit the vehicle was stolen from the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center in Shawnee.
Dale School Supt. Will Jones said, “No buildings were damaged, just an awning is all. The damage is minimal,” Jones noted.
“Pretty minor with all the factors considered,” he thinks.
But a wheat field, owned by Robert Nowakowski, longtime area farmer, did sustain some damage.
Nowakowski said that wheat field runs right up to the west side of the Dale School property and sustained some damage, He said there were two sets of tracks about four feet square about 800 yards long. “That’s destroyed,” Nowakowski said. “And there is no way we think we can be compensated.”
In the probable cause affidavit, Robinson states just before 9:15 p.m. March 30 he overheard Perkins Police in pursuit of a Tahoe coming south on Highway 177.
The deputy reported he staged his vehicle at 177 and SH 105 and joined the pursuit at that intersection. He states he observed the vehicle swerve into oncoming traffic several times, speeding through the Carney Town limits at speeds of 90 to 100 miles per hour. The speed limit through town is 45.
Robinson said at Highway 177 and 970 Road he took over as the primary vehicle in the pursuit.
The pursuit continued down Highway 177, entered Pottawatomie County where that county’s deputies joined the pursuit that went to I-40 traveling westbound to SH 102, continuing north on through the wheat field and finally ending up at Dale Middle School.
Following his arrest by Pottawatomie County deputies, Kickapoo Tribal Police Officer Chris Bacon later transported Pope to the Lincoln County Jail, where he was booked on several charges.
In Count 1, a felony, Pope is accused on March 30 of increasing his speed in an attempt to elude officers from Perkins in Payne County, Lincoln and Pottawatomie Counties.
Count 2 charges Pope with unauthorized use of a vehicle, a felony, by taking on March 30 a 2011 gray Tahoe from the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center.