On Wednesday, April 17 at approximately 9:30 p.m. Sapulpa Police Officer Jacob Patton was dispatched to the area of State Highway 117 and Brenner Road for a possible drunk driver traveling westbound on 117.
Patton reached the intersection of Main Street and Taft Avenue before he was able to locate the vehicle, a black Lincoln sedan with Oklahoma plates. As he came upon it, the sedan was swerving inside of its lane and then across the dividing line into the adjacent lane.
Officer Patton activated his emergency lights to signal the vehicle to pull over, which it did, near the intersection of Taft and Wickham. As he approached the driver’s side door to make contact with the driver, he observed a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the car.
After identifying himself, he asked the driver for his license and proof of insurance. The driver, identified as David Roy Stringer (Defendant) of Glenpool, stated that his wallet had been stolen so he did not have any identification.
When asked about the odor of marijuana in the vehicle, the Defendant claimed that a friend of his had had some in the car earlier. He said that he did not smoke marijuana himself for fear of losing his job at Walmart. His speech was quite slurred as he made this statement.
Officer Patton then asked the Defendant to step out of the vehicle. As he did so he was very unsteady on his feet, and Patton noticed the additional smell of alcohol coming from his breath and person. When asked how much he had been drinking, the Defendant denied having had anything to drink.
Acting on his suspicions that the Defendant was lying about having imbibed both marijuana and alcohol, Patton chose to go ahead and administer Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. The Defendant performed poorly on each of the them.
Officer Patton placed the Defendant under arrest and asked him if he would consent to take the State’s breath test, but he refused.
Next, Patton performed a thorough search of the Defendant’s vehicle. He found a clear plastic bag containing a green leafy substance in the glove box, a pipe shaped like dice containing more of the green leafy substance, a set of digital scales with a green leafy residue, a black bottle containing more of the same from a backpack found in the front seat, and finally an empty black bottle with small bits of the green substance.
All of the green leafy substances were individually tested for marijuana with positive results. When asked about the marijuana he found, the Defendant protested, “I can have up to 28 grams of marijuana in my car with my medical card.” However, because his wallet had supposedly been stolen, he did not have his card with him.
Later, while being booked into the jail, the Defendant admitted to drinking alcohol prior to driving. He also stated that he knew the marijuana was in the vehicle but that he was too scared to confess to it.
A check of the Defendant’s driver’s license showed it to be suspended, but a search revealed that he had no prior criminal history.
