Last month, on Wednesday, August 9, at approximately 10:45 a.m., Sapulpa police officers were dispatched to the Sapulpa Municipal Golf Course to investigate a disturbance. The officers were advised that a black male wearing camouflage clothing had been seen walking across the golf course towards the pro shop yelling and threatening to fight people.
Officers made contact with the above-described subject on the south side of West Highway 66 across from Sahoma Lake Road as he exited the golf course. Officers Jonathan Noah and Cady Byrnes identified the man as Rodgell B. Howell (Defendant).
During the course of the officers’ questioning, the Defendant gave conflicting stories. He initially stated that he was on probation and then in another instance denied it. He finally said that he was currently living in Tulsa with his mother and gave the officers her address.
He said that he was in Sapulpa visiting friends and that another friend had given him a ride here since he was on foot.
During this encounter, Sapulpa Police Department communication officers advised Noah and Byrnes that the Defendant was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as a “Registered” and “Active” sex offender. When asked about this information, the Defendant became irritated and confrontational. He admitted that he was registered in Tulsa, but denied being registered in Henryetta, despite contradicting information from NCIC.
Having nothing at that time to hold the Defendant, officers let him go.
Less than an hour later, around 11:30 a.m., Sapulpa police officers were dispatched to the area of Sahoma Lake Road to investigate an unwanted subject matching the description of the Defendant trespassing near a residence and through a wooded area. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate anyone.
One of the responding officers, Jolen Boyd, returned to the Sapulpa Police Department and conducted a criminal inquiry of the Defendant, and learned that he had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of Okmulgee for domestic assault and battery and public intoxication.
He further learned through conversations with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registration (ODOC SOR) division and the Henryetta Police Department that the Defendant had been noncompliant with his statutory registration requirement.
It appeared that the Defendant’s original charge of sexual battery of a person over 16, which mandated his registration requirement, was from Clark County, Nevada with a conviction date of April 2011. He is required to update his registration every 90 days.
This information was relayed to officers on patrol.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on that same evening, officers were dispatched to the area of Sahoma Lake Road again to investigate a subject matching the description of the Defendant looking into the windows of nearby residences. Again officers immediately responded to the area and conducted a search, but were unable to locate the Defendant or anyone else matching the subject’s description.
This would have been the end of the matter, except that on Thursday, September 5 at 12:45 p.m., Sapulpa Police Officer Jennifer Williams observed a black male matching the description of the Defendant walking through the alleyway in the 600 block of South Main Street.
Williams verified that the man was the Defendant and placed him under arrest for violation of the sex offender registration act.
Additionally, during the course of a pat-down search of the Defendant’s person prior to arrest, Officer Cansas Pete located a glass smoking pipe used for the consumption of methamphetamines.
A thorough background inquiry of the Defendant revealed a lengthy criminal history beginning in 1989 for first-degree robbery and extending through 2019 with charges such as possession of an assault with a deadly weapon (a firearm), possession of marijuana and controlled dangerous substances, fugitive from justice, multiple probation violations, vehicle theft, obstruction, DUI, forgery, battery of spouse, and inflicting corporal injury of spouse.
These charges occurred throughout California, Texas, Washington, Nevada, and Oklahoma, with the most recent criminal charge reported on August 24, 2019, for failure to register as a sex offender in Tulsa. This has been referred to the District Attorney.
