Arrests made in recent oil field thefts
Two men are facing felony charges following multiple oil field thefts.
According to the affidavit filed in Alfalfa County, at about 3:44 a.m., July 19 Alfalfa County Sheriff’s Deputy Diego Gutierrez was notified by dispatch that they were on the phone with an oil field employee. The employee told dispatch he was following a pickup he saw at Jiffy Trip hauling a trailer loaded with oil field parts. The employee said the truck matched the description of a truck where copper wire and pump parts had been stolen in the last few months. He said two individuals drove off in the pickup. One was barefoot and only wearing black shorts. The other wore blue jeans, a black shirt and a ball cap.
Gutierrez contacted the employee by phone and remained on an open line with him. The employee provided directions as the employee followed the pickup south on Highway 64, west on Ellis Road, then back south on County Road 600 to Dewey Road and east to the highway.
The employee followed the truck to the US-64 and OK-8 junction at Cozy Curve. He said the truck then turned south onto CR 620 and slowed down, almost coming to a full stop. He continued to follow at what he said was a high rate of speed. He said the truck turned west onto Cotton Road and continued at high speed.
Gutierrez followed on Highway 64 and headed south on County Road 660 to attempt to intercept the pickup. When he was approximately a quarter mile north of Cotton Road, he observed two sets of headlights approaching the intersection. The employee said he was driving the second vehicle.
Gutierrez saw a pickup matching the employee’s description go across the intersection at a high rate of speed. The vehicle appeared to hit a low spot on the road and the trailer behind it followed in a harsh wave type of manner. Gutierrez activated his emergency lights and siren as he approached the intersection. The employee stopped so the deputy could get behind the pickup.
Gutierrez advised dispatch he was attempting to stop the vehicle. He saw the pickup speed up and followed with lights and siren for about half a mile. The truck appeared to hit a bump and started to swerve, coming to a stop. Gutierrez conducted a felony stop and removed the driver, later identified as Neal Ray Scrimsher. His clothing, jeans, black shirt and ball cap, matched the description of the one of the individuals given by the employee. Scrimsher said there was no one else in the vehicle. Gutierrez detained Scrimsher and checked the pickup to make sure.
The employee drove up and said he was absolutely sure he saw both individuals get in the pickup at Jiffy Trip. He said the second man might have gotten out when the truck slowed down at Highway 64 and County Road 620. Gutierrez called dispatch and asked for a supervisor to be contacted. The deputy asked Scrimsher for a bill of lading for all the oilfield equipment, and Scrimsher said he didn’t have one. Gutierrez asked for consent to search and Scrimsher consented. Gutierrez advised dispatch he had consent to search and gave the pickup tag number for returns.
The pickup Scrimsher was driving had a trailer loaded with a lot of oil field pipes, valves and other equipment. In the truck bed, Gutierrez saw multiple rolled up pieces of bare and coated copper wire. He also observed two sets of bolt cutters.
Inside the truck, Gutierrez found several small flashlights, face masks and several tools including a grinder and reciprocating saws. He also found a court appearance card from Grant County. He had dispatch to look up the case number, and they advised it involved a Harold Wilson for copper theft. They also advised they couldn’t get returns on the truck tag.
Undersheriff Gary Mast arrived. Gutierrez read Scrimsher his Miranda Warning with Scrimsher later acknowledging his rights and agreeing to talk. Scrimsher initially said he had been sent to meet in Cherokee with Jeffrey Skaggs to pick up all the items in the truck. He said the meet was arranged by his buddy Harold Wilson. Scrimsher said he followed Skaggs out to several places to pick up the stuff.
When questioned about the other individual seen with him, Scrimsher stated he’d been alone the whole time. He said the other man was just someone he saw and talked to while at Jiffy Trip.
Scrimsher was advised he was being placed under arrest. Gutierrez advised Mast of the location where the other suspect might have bailed out. Sheriff Rick Wallace arrived on the scene. At that moment, the employee’s supervisor called to ask where they were and heard about the second suspect. He said he just saw that individual at Highway 64 near the intersection of Highway 58. The supervisor stopped and observed the suspect at a distance. While still on the phone, the supervisor stated a pickup had arrived from east Highway 64 and the suspect got in. He said the truck then turned around and drove off west on Highway 64 at a high rate of speed. The supervisor followed the truck at a distance and waited for Wallace and Mast to catch up and stop it.
Sheriff Wallace and Undersheriff Mast stopped the truck and detained the suspect who was wearing black shorts and was now wearing a blue shirt. Wallace identified the individual as Harold Wilson. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Alfalfa County Jail by Mast. Wallace spoke with the driver of the truck who wrote a statement that Harold Wilson told him he was running from the cops because he and Neal had stolen copper up by Highway 11.
Gutierrez again advised Scrimsher of his rights and asked the identity of the individual with him. He said law enforcement already had him, and he had nothing to say. A short while later, Scrimsher asked to speak to Gutierrez again. He said that Harold Wilson had been with him, and they had gone to several sites several times over the past month. He said Wilson was the one who collected the copper grounding wire while he collected the pipes and other miscellaneous items.
The supervisor told Gutierrez he also recognized the truck as the one seen by other employees at oil field sites after they were burglarized. He called two other employees who came to the site and identified the pickup as the vehicle they saw at or around the several locations burglarized.
Gutierrez asked dispatch to get a tow service to pick up the truck and trailer and take them to the county barn in Cherokee for storage and inventory as they were being seized with contents as evidence.
Gutierrez transported Scrimsher to the Alfalfa County Jail. Sheriff Wallace asked him to stop at a well site just south of Cherokee. At the site, Scrimsher said he didn’t recall being there. Later at Sheriff Wallace’s office, Scrimsher stated he remembered leaving a site in a hurry because someone caught them there. He also remembered the truck going off the road into the ditch as they turned onto the highway that night. Wallace asked if they lost a pair of bolt cutters, and Scrimsher said they had, indicating it was a small pair. When asked if they were a Kobalt brand, Scrimsher said yes.
Gutierrez then interviewed Wilson who said the truck he and Scrimsher were in was his, and he’d bought it about a month earlier from Howard Case whom the registration still showed as the owner. When questioned about bailing from the truck, he said Scrimsher made him get out. Wilson said he was driving, and Scrimsher made him get out. He said he then walked along the highway and called his friend to pick him up.
Wilson said when he was seen at Jiffy Trip, Scrimsher had picked him up from his cousin’s house in Cherokee at 3 a.m. Wilson said Scrimsher had borrowed the truck and all the stolen stuff on the truck was Scrimsher’s. Asked about the tools in the truck, Wilson said they were his. He said he wasn’t in the business of stealing copper wire from well sites and continuously stated he had nothing to do with the events that happened that night. When asked about the other bolt cutters, Wilson said he wasn’t missing any. When asked for consent to search his phone, Wilson at first agreed but changed his mind stating he’d make them work for any information.
Gutierrez later received a call from Wilson’s ex-wife who said he called her to ask for help to bond out. She said Wilson was in the business of scrapping metal for profit. She said most of the metal he scrapped was stolen and he would get other people to sell it for him in Enid or Ponca City. She said most tickets would be under Scrimsher’s name or Wilson’s girlfriend because neither place would buy from Wilson.
Sheriff Wallace later told Gutierrez he took Scrimsher to the hospital. The following day, Scrimsher was released from the hospital and was given a ride back. During the ride, Scrimsher spoke about the incident, with Gutierrez making sure to remind him of his rights. Scrimsher confirmed they had gone to some sites north of Highway 11 on the northeast end of the county. He confirmed the bolt cutters that were left behind belonged to Wilson.
Neal Scrimsher, 50, of Enid, has been charged with:
• Knowingly concealing stolen property, a felony punishable by a term not to exceed eight years in department of corrections or in the county jail for a term not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed $500 or by both such fine and imprisonment.
• Two counts of larceny of equipment, a felony punishable by forfeiture of the instrumentality of the crime and by a fine less than $100 and not more than $50,000, or by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term in the range of one year to 10 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
• Possession of stolen copper, a felony punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for 1-5 years or in the county jail for 90-200 days, a fine of $100-$500 or both the fine and imprisonment.
• Conspiracy, a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years, or a fine of up to $5,000 or both.
• Entering with intent to steal copper, a felony punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for 1-5 years or in the county jail for 90-200 days, a fine of $100-$500 or both.
• Eluding/attempting to elude police officer, a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of $100-$2,000, or both.
• Driving with license cancelled/suspeneded/revoked, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $500 or by imprisonemnt for not more than one year or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Harold L. Wilson, 34, of Enid, has also been charged with:
• Knowingly concealing stolen property, a felony punishable by a term not to exceed eight years in department of corrections or in the county jail for a term not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed $500 or by both such fine and imprisonment.
• Two counts of larceny of equipment, a felony punishable by forfeiture of the instrumentality of the crime and by a fine less than $100 and not more than $50,000, or by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term in the range of one year to 10 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
• Possession of stolen copper, a felony punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for 1-5 years or in the county jail for 90-200 days, a fine of $100-$500 or both the fine and imprisonment.
• Conspiracy, a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years, or a fine of up to $5,000 or both.
• Entering with intent to steal copper, a felony punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for 1-5 years or in the county jail for 90-200 days, a fine of $100-$500 or both.