Twenty-three-year-old James David Dycus, III, was arrested on Tuesday, July 14th, after police were called to the Kum & Go store on North 9th about a possible road rage incident involving a firearm. Officer Pittinger responded and encountered three witnesses, Josiah Horton, Jacob Smith, and a juvenile female, identified as BKG.
According to the affidavit, Jacob Smith stated he was traveling north on 9th Street in the inside lane and noticed a silver Hyundai tailgating him. He moved to the outside lane, not realizing the Hyundai had moved into the same lane.
He then turned into the Kum & Go parking lot to get gas, and the Hyundai “pulled up next to him.” Mr. Smith stated that the driver of the Hyundai, a white male with long hair and tattoos, pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at him from the driver’s window and asked, “What’s your problem?” Smith said there was no problem.
Then the man said, “You’re lucky, dude, that I don’t shoot your car up and shoot your tires.”
The Hyundai sped off, turned around, and came back alongside the car and the driver spat on the victim’s driver’s side fender. The driver again left the area, but Smith was able to get the tag number which later was identified as a 2005 Hyundai Sonata belonging to Courtney Groden.
Josiah Horton, one of the passengers, was then interviewed and provided a similar story, adding that the man cursed at them and threatened to shoot them for slowing down and turning into the parking lot. Further, Horton added that the man was about 6 feet tall, with long dark hair, and that there was a woman in the car with him in the passenger seat who had “dirty blond hair.”
The juvenile, who was in the back seat, gave a similar report, adding that the woman in the passenger seat had asked the alleged perpetrator to stop several times and that he had pointed the gun at all of the subjects.
Pittinger was able to locate the Hyundai Sonata a short time later and performed a felony traffic stop, where he detained Dycus and backing officer Sgt. Lowry detained Groden.
Officer Pittinger recited the Miranda Warning to Courtney Groden, who recounted a similar story, except that she said the subjects “tried to race them, almost causing a collision.” Then Dycus had followed them to the parking lot and “exchanged words with them.” She said he had the gun in his lap and “they saw it, they for sure saw it.” She stated he “waved” the handgun because he was [angry] (expletive deleted).
Then, Officer Pittinger recited the Miranda Warning to James Dycus, who stated the vehicle “pulled out in front of him.” He said he had words with all the occupants of their car, and “that was it.” When asked about the handgun, Dycus stated he keeps in between the driver’s seat and the center console “at all times.” He further stated that all of the passengers in the other car were standing outside of their car, so he was sure they had seen his gun.
At this point, Dycus was arrested and transported to booking for “Pointing a Deadly Weapon,” “Possession of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony,” and “Possession of Marijuana.”
During the traffic stop, Officer Lowry had located a black Smith & Wesson M & P 9 mm handgun that Dycus admitted was his. Both officers could smell the aroma of raw marijuana emanating from the car, so they searched the vehicle and found a backpack with 466 grams (1.27 pounds) of (what later turned out to be) marijuana in the trunk. When asked if either one of them possessed an Oklahoma State Medical Marijuana card, they stated they did not.
A criminal check run on James David Dycus, III, found him not to have a criminal record. She was released at the scene.
Sapulpa Times ran a criminal history check on Courtney Groden and found she has an outstanding felony warrant for Failure to Pay on 1st Degree Robbery and other felonies.
