(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater man — who was sought for three weeks before he was arrested in Winfield, Kansas — has been jailed on $85,000 total bail on charges of threatening a witness on Facebook two days after he was released on bond on Payne County charges of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, having drug paraphernalia, and possessing a rifle while on probation in another Payne County marijuana case.
Arik Shane Ridgeway, 24, remains held pending a Thursday court appearance with an attorney on all of his current cases, court records show.
Ridgeway’s former employer, who owns an electric business, told Stillwater Police Officer Josh Carson on July 25 that he bought a trailer for his workers to live in while he was operating several electric crews in the Stillwater area, according to the officer’s affidavit.
The employer said he hired Ridgeway “and let him and three other of his employees live in the house while they worked for him,” but Ridgeway quit after only working for a week, and “continued to live in the house without ever paying rent,” the affidavit alleged.
The employer “said his other employees moved out of the house when they observed Ridgeway selling drugs from the residence,” the affidavit alleged.
The employer “told me he has tried to get Ridgeway out of the house, but has not been able to get him to answer the door,” and showed the officer an eviction notice he had obtained from the Payne County Courthouse, the affidavit alleged.
Two officers went with Ridgeway’s former employer to the trailer, but were unable to contact Ridgeway, who would have to be served the eviction notice by the Payne County Sheriff’s Office, the affidavit said.
Two days later, the officer went to the trailer to serve a search warrant “based on information I obtained that was totally unrelated to anything involving” Ridgeway’s former employer, the affidavit alleged.
“When we arrived, I was able to contact Arik Ridgeway inside the trailer. Ridgeway was placed under arrest for possession of CDS with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm” while on probation, the officer wrote in his affidavit.
“Several bullets, shotgun shells and a shotgun barrel were also found during the warrant service,” the affidavit alleged.
At the Stillwater city jail, “Ridgeway told me he had been selling marijuana because he was unemployed. During the interview, Ridgeway told me he was connected to the Aryan Brotherhood and made reference to other gang affiliations explaining he provided them with high quality marijuana,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
On Aug. 3, the officer received a phone call from Ridgeway’s former employer, who said several of his employees told him that Ridgeway was threatening to kill him, the affidavit alleged.
Ridgeway’s former employer said “he saw a Facebook post Ridgeway had posted when he bonded out stating there was a ‘green light,’ on (the former employer)…a common term used in prisons and gangs meaning the person has a ‘hit’ out on them,” the affidavit alleged.
“The Facebook message is as follows: ‘Arik S. Ridgeway Your boss got my door kicked in. Green light, x’d out now. (The former employer) ain’t ready for what he started,’” the affidavit alleged.
The post was put on an employee’s Facebook account, the affidavit alleged. Ridgeway’s former employer said “he was afraid for his safety and was considering quitting the job and going back to Texas. I reassured (Ridgeway’s former employer) and placed his hotel on extra patrol,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
If convicted of intimidation of a witness, Ridgeway could be given as much as a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine, according to the charge filed by prosecutor Jeremiah Gregory.
If convicted of his earlier charges of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, having a .22 caliber rifle while on probation in a 2012 marijuana case, and having digital scales as well as packaging material, all on July 27 in Stillwater, Ridgeway could be given as much as a life prison term plus 11 years and $111,00 in fines, court records show.
According to court records, Ridgeway was placed on five years’ probation under a deferred sentence on Nov. 22, 2013, in his 2012 marijuana case.
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