
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 25-year-old Perkins man accused of running multiple stop signs and a roadblock, as well as hitting a patrol car, during a pursuit that began in Perkins and ended in Glencoe has been jailed on $50,000 bail pending a court appearance on May 1.
Caleb Russell Hart surrendered to authorities after crashing his pickup and inadvertently disclosing his location to Payne County Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Nack, who had texted him “In Glencoe where u at,” according to an affidavit.
Hart, who was arrested about nine hours after the pursuit began, could be incarcerated for more than 21 years if convicted of a six-count charge filed last week, court records show.
Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Zack Pruitt was on patrol on April 2 at 11:47 pm when he saw a white pickup truck traveling south on Sadler Road from Highway 33 with defective tag lights and attempted a traffic stop on Kirk Street east of Sadler, an affidavit alleged.
After the deputy activated his emergency lights, “Caleb swerved back and forth crossing the center dividing line several times,” before beginning to run stop signs, Pruitt alleged in his affidavit.
“Shortly after crossing Union, Caleb realized 92nd dead-ends, so he came to a stop, put the vehicle in reverse, and began to back up in the middle of the roadway. I attempted to stop my patrol vehicle and put it in the ditch to avoid colliding with Caleb.
“As I was entering the ditch, Caleb turned his vehicle, so the driver side rear bumper struck the driver side of my front bumper. This collision bent the part of the push bar that encircled my driver side headlight and pushed the driver side of the front bumper into the driver side fender causing it to buckle immediately over the tire.
“After Caleb struck my vehicle, he drove westbound on 92nd, again failing to yield or stop at the stop signs at Union and Prairie. After turning northbound on Prairie, Caleb failed to yield or stop at the stop sign at 68th St., 56th St, and Hwy. 51.
“A Stillwater police officer was sitting at Hwy. 51 and Prairie; he was able to deploy a spike strip that punctured at least one of Caleb’s tires. Continuing northbound on Prairie, Caleb failed to yield or stop at the stop sign at McElroy.
“Shortly after crossing McElroy, the siren on my patrol vehicle stopped working, so I pulled over to let Perkins Police Officer Spencer Gedon and Sgt. Don Howard continue the pursuit,” until it was discontinued in the area of Ripley Rd. and Yost Rd., the deputy alleged in his affidavit.
“Since one or more of Caleb’s tires had been punctured, we drove the area after discontinuing the pursuit to ensure Caleb had not wrecked his vehicle;” at 12:18 am, Deputy Patricia Benavidez found the suspect’s pickup unoccupied and upside down in the roadway on Burkhart with one flat front tire and the other just a rim with the tire missing, the affidavit alleged. “We searched the area but were unable to locate Caleb at that time,” the affidavit said.
“After the pursuit had been terminated, Caleb was identified as the suspect by Perkins Police Officer Spencer Gedon. Lt. Dan Nack sent the last known phone number for Caleb a text message that said, ‘In Glencoe, where u at.’ At approximately 5:36 am Caleb sent Lt. Nack a link to his location at that time, which was in the area of Lone Chimney Rd. and Bethel Rd.
“Lt. Nack told Caleb he was all over the scanner. Caleb asked, ‘They had my name?’ Lt. Nack responded with ‘Hart.’ Caleb responded to that with ‘F…” Lt. Nack and I went to the location Caleb had sent. When Lt. Nack told Caleb we were there, Caleb came out of the tree line on the south side of Lone Chimney Rd. and walked up to the passenger side of our vehicle,” the deputy alleged in his affidavit.
Hart, who has a history of drunk driving arrests, “had red watery eyes and the odor commonly associated with alcoholic beverages,” the affidavit alleged. Hart was charged with attempting to elude, running a roadblock, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, public intoxication, driving on a suspended license and failing to carry a security verification form.