State Briefs: B'ville ex-officer pleads guilty to theft of drugs

Tulsa World (Oklahoma)
BYLINE: Staff Reports

Bartlesville, OK

BARTLESVILLE A retired Bartlesville police officer is set to be sentenced Sept. 10 after he pleaded guilty this week to stealing drugs from the Police Department's evidence room. Kyle Willaford, 48, was charged in July 2007 in Washington County District Court with larceny of drugs. Prosecutors allege that he stole 202 Lortab pills and 233 hydrocodone pills between August 2001 and November 2006. Willaford pleaded guilty Wednesday before Osage County District Judge John Kane, who heard the case after Washington County judges recused themselves.

Willaford originally was charged with 18 counts of larceny, but the state dropped four counts this week. Willaford, who had a key to the evidence room, said he searched for painkillers to alleviate his back pain. Willaford, who has been out of jail on a medical recognizance bond, has requested several delays in the case to allow him to receive treatments for cancer. Laura Summers, World correspondent 4 killed in SUV accident; 3 are from same family Four people, including three members of one family, were killed Wednesday when a sport utility vehicle crossed a highway center line and collided with another SUV in Pottawatomie County. Dead are Bobby Alan Wakolee, 34, Teresa Lee Wakolee, 39, and Summer Dawn Etchison, 8 months, all of Tecumseh; and Loretta Kay Cantrell, 60, of Ada. Cantrell was driving north in a 2004 Jeep Cherokee on U.S. 177 two miles south of Tecumseh when her vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic on the two-lane highway and hit the Wakolees' 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer about 4:10 p.m., the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. Both drivers were pinned in the wreckage for 2 1/2 hours, troopers said, and all four people involved were pronounced dead at the scene. Troopers said the adults were not wearing seat belts but that the baby was in a child seat. The Shawnee News-Star reported that the baby was the Wakolees' granddaughter. Bobby Wakolee worked as a juvenile security officer at Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center in Tecumseh, and Teresa Wakolee was a kitchen supervisor and administrative programs officer there before transferring recently to the Office of Juvenile Affairs in Oklahoma City, the Shawnee paper reported. From Staff Reports Officials: Man shot, then shooter turns gun on self FORT GIBSON A Cherokee County man was shot and killed after a dispute with a neighbor, who authorities say then turned the gun on himself. Shannon Ray Ragsdale, 29, was shot after he answered his door Tuesday night at his home near Fort Gibson, Cherokee County officials said. The suspect, Kelly Compart, 47, later shot himself as deputies and Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers arrived at the scene, authorities said. Compart was flown to a hospital in critical condition, Undersheriff Jason Chennault said. The Associated Press OSBI identifies woman found dead in rural pond TAHLEQUAH Authorities have identified a woman who was found dead in a pond in Cherokee County. Donna Dulen, 38, of Stilwell was found Tuesday in a pond in a rural area west of Tahlequah, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported. OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown said the death was suspicious but that an autopsy revealed no signs of trauma that would indicate foul play. The cause of death can't be determined until toxicology results are completed, she said. The Associated Press Fort Sill soldier's body is ID'd as Kansas officer LAWTON A Fort Sill soldier whose body was found along a road at the post has been identified as an Army officer from Kansas. Fort Sill officials said 1st Lt. Jeremy Andrew Clawson was found dead Tuesday. Someone called 911 to report a body near one of the post's firing ranges. Clawson, 36, was activated from the Kansas Army National Guard in December and arrived at Fort Sill in January. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 289th Field Artillery Regiment. Fort Sill spokeswoman Emily Kelley said Clawson's death is being investigated by the post's Criminal Investigation Division, but she would not elaborate. She did not have the name of his Kansas hometown. Clawson enlisted in the Army in October 1990 and was commissioned as an officer in October 2006. The Associated Press

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