Yale man accused of choking girlfriend in rural Cushing

  STILLWATER — A 28-year-old man from Yale, who has been charged with choking his girlfriend, dragging her by the neck and slamming her body into her vehicle at her rural Cushing residence in August, has been jailed on $15,000 bond pending a Sept. 14 court appearance.

   Cody Lane Melton, who was also accused of possessing methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia during a traffic stop in Yale in July, could be incarcerated for 16 years and fined $35,500 if convicted of all of his charges, court records show.

   Melton was arrested at 10:19 pm on Aug. 26 at his Cushing workplace, about two and one-half hours after his girlfriend told Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Zackary Pruitt about what happened at her camper that morning, an affidavit alleged.

   “She told me she and her boyfriend, Cody Melton, got into an argument at approximately 10 am on this day. She decided she no longer wanted to be in this RV with Cody, so she tried to leave. This was when Cody physically prevented her from leaving by blocking the door of the bedroom area they were in.

   “She told Cody she was going to call 911 so Cody took her phone away and would not give it back. Cody then pushed her onto the bed with both hands. She tried to get up several times, but Cody would push her back down.” She said that when she was choked, she could not breathe for a short time and felt panicked, the affidavit alleged.

   “Once Cody let her up off the bed, she showered and put on new clothes. Cody continued arguing with her the entire time. After showering, she was able to leave the RV, but Cody had taken the keys to her vehicle away, told her he was not going to let her leave because they needed to talk this out and kept her from getting to her vehicle. At some point during the fighting, Cody broke her cell phone.

   “Cody also wrapped one of his arms around her neck from behind and drug her away from her vehicle, then slammed her into the vehicle. Cody finally let her go when she grabbed Cody’s genitals and squeezed. She left the property for several hours to let both parties cool down. Once she returned to the property, the argument started back up again.

   “She also told me she tried leaving the property again, but Cody begged for a ride to work. She gave him a ride to work but decided to call us afterward, since she was supposed to pick him up from work and did not want to be alone with him.

   “She showed me a large bruise on her right rib cage area, a small bruise on her right shoulder, and five of her acrylic gel nails that had been broken during this incident. She told me she has a protective order against Cody through Pawnee County that is still active but chose to get back together with him despite his violent behavior in the past,” the deputy alleged in his affidavit.

   On the phone, her roommate confirmed that he does live with the couple and heard them arguing inside the camper, the affidavit said. “He told me he did see the fight that happened outside the camper as well, and that Cody did wrap his arm around her neck from behind and drug her around the yard as well as slammed her into her car,” the deputy alleged in his affidavit.

   When the deputy went to his workplace, “Cody appeared very nervous upon seeing me…He then confirmed they had gotten into an argument, but that it was only verbal. I asked Cody how she got the broken fingernails and bruises on her ribs and shoulder. Cody said the bruises were probably from (her disease) and was not sure how she had broken her fingernails…Cody then told me he believes she is cheating on him.

   “Cody then told me I could talk to his roommate. I informed Cody I had already spoken to him, and he had confirmed her story. While enroute to the Payne County Jail, Cody told me that he knew she had a protective order against him. He also asked me several times if I thought he was a ‘good guy.’ I explained to him that I am not able to testify to his character.

   “Cody was also very concerned with how long he was going to have to be in jail for this and kept telling me that she told him she loved him when she dropped him off at work. Cody also said he was looking forward to going home after work, so he could relax and he could talk more with her, and that he only tried to keep her from her vehicle because he had left a marijuana cigarette inside the vehicle,” the deputy alleged in his affidavit.