December 26, 2020 Issue, Page 3 of 8

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December 26, 2020 News Elk City man spots own stolen truck, report says Warrant issued for arrest By Shonda Little Office to inform them of the Drive. After speaking with the pas- The vehicle was released to “Mr. Mitch began telling me situation. ‘The officer conducted the fel- senger, the officer concluded the owner. that he did not want to disclose A warrant has been issued for A short time later, the report- ony stop with two other officers. that the passenger did not have The reporting officer lead too much information because a 51-year-old Alvin, Texas man ing officer wrote that ECPD dis- knowledge of the vehicle being Smith to the interview room at he did not want any additional ‘The driver was identified as through the Beckham County as patch stated the vehicle was at Smith. Smith reportedly com- stolen and was released from the ECPD on that same day. of Dec. 21 for one count of re- Elk Creek Trailer Park, but that plied with commands and was the stop. ‘The interview was video and charges and he wanted to go ceiving, possession, concealing, it was also moving again. secured in hand restraints. ‘The officer then spoke with audio recorded. home. I told Mr. Smith that I selling or disposing of a stolen It was then reported that the Smith had a passenger who the vehicle owner and asked for ‘The officer read Smith his Mi- was not in a position to make a vehicle. vehicle had pulled into the Clar- was also placed in hand re- his consent to search the truck, randa Rights and Smith agreed deal with him,” the officer wrote. Michael Robert Smith is de- ion Inn hotel. straints. which was reportedly given. to speak to the officer, which ‘The officer informed Smith scribed in the probable cause ECPD officers arrived on Smith was confirmed to have During the search, the officer was indicated when he signed a that the vehicle was stolen. affidavit as a 6 foot white man scene, but were unable to locate an active arrest warrant out of allegedly found a duffle bag in Miranda waiver. ‘The officer stated that he told weighing 245 pounds with the vehicle. Texas and was placed under ar- the backseat which contained Smith reportedly said he brown hair and hazel eyes. He is During this time, the report- rest for the warrant. clothing and unused needles. wished to speak and told the of- Smith that he was not accus- also listed as non-hispanic. ing officer was traveling east on At this time, Smith began Within a CD case laying on ficer that he did not know why ing Smith of taking vehicle, but According to court filings, the Lakeview approaching Washing- complaining of chest pain. the back floorboard, the officer he had been arrested until he ar- stated that he was in possession case dates back to Nov. 6. At ap- ton Avenue. As he approached The reporting officer asked allegedly found several meth- rived at the jail. of it. proximately 8:23 a.m. , Elk City the intersection, he observed another officer to transport amphetamine pipes and other Smith reportedly went on to As Smith retold the officer the Police Department officers were the truck traveling south on Smith to the Great Plains Re- paraphernalia. tell the officer that he did not day’s events, the officer said that dispatched to the area of 20th Washington, or a truck that gional Medical Center to be Both Smith and the passen- steal the truck or take the truck. and Randall in Elk City. matched the description given medically cleared. ger denied owning the property “Other than the person that he changed his story. ‘The call for services stated by dispatch. Meanwhile, the reporting of within the vehicle aside from handed me the keys this morn- ‘Smith reportedly changed his that a subject was following his ‘The vehicle continued south ficer met with the passenger and their cell phones. ing,” Smith allegedly said to the story another time. own stolen vehicle. through the intersection where read him his Miranda rights. Smith later reportedly in- officer. Smith also allegedly admitted ECPD dispatchers described the officer was able to get behind ‘The passenger agreed to speak formed the officer that some of From there, Smith seemed to being in the truck two days the vehicles as a gray 3/4 ton it and verify the tag number. to the officer. the clothing inside the bag be- to point the blame to someone prior. Chevrolet pickup truck bearing ‘The tag was confirmed by the ‘The passenger reportedly longed to him and it was placed named “Chris Bird.” “I have attempted to track Oldahoma tags. dispatchers and confirmed that stated that Smith had picked in his jail property. Smith reported that he got Dispatch advised the vehicle it had been reported stolen ear- him up approximately 10 min- ‘The owner said the vehicle had the keys from “Bird” at Rain- down anyone that could verify was traveling west on 20th lier in the week. utes before the traffic stop at his been stolen from Geary, Oklaho- tree Apartments and described Mr. Smith’s claims that Mr. Bird Street from Randall with the ‘The officer activated his emer- residence at the Raintree Apart- ma, and that he had located it in where this man’s apartmentwas gave him the vehicle, however, I owner following. gency lights in order to conduct ments. Elk City on November 2. allegedly at. have been unsuccessful,” the of- Once officers were in the area, a traffic stop upon the vehicle. The passenger __allegedly Two ECPD officers had re- ‘The officer asked Smith what ficer added. dispatch advised the vehicle had ‘The vehicle continued to move daimed they were going to portedly processed the truck at he was using the truck for and The information was for- pulled into Potter's Trailer Park, south, which caused the officer Smith's house to pick up a table. that time. Smith allegedly admitted he was warded to the Beckham County which is outside of Elk City’s ju- to active his siren. ‘The passenger reportedly told However, when the owner supposed to take someone to do risdiction. After a few more moments, the officer that Smith had be- went to take possession of the a drug buy in Lawton. District Attorney's Office, which The ECPD dispatch contacted come nervous when the police the vehicle came to a stop in the vehicle, he learned that it had Smith reportedly alleged the has now opted to file the felony the Beckham County Sheriff's area of Washington and Fairway got behind him. been stolen again. passenger was going with him. charge. Inside the first chaotic days of the effort to vaccinate America Rachana Pradhan, Lauren Weber dose. It came at refrigerator-sta- shipments, said Sara Jo Best, tions and contact tracing from thorization in February, Opera- the state. The hubs are distrib- andJay Hancock ble temperatures,” Hannan said. public health director of the an unending stream of new in- tion Warp Speed chief scientific uted widely enough so vaccina- Kaiser Health News “Tt was nothing like this.” Lincoln Trail District. Indiana's fections. adviser Moncef Slaoui said this tors can bring shots from there Within just a few days, the state health department had to Best said her workforce is month. to health workers even in thinly One tray of COVID-19 vac- logistical barriers of the vaccine identify alternative cold storage struggling to keep up with CO- Until then, Pfizer and Mod- cine from pharmaceutical giant made by Pfizer and BioNTech options for 17 hospitals follow- VID-19 infections alone, much ema are the companies supply- populated areas before they Pfizer contains 975 doses — were laid bare. Many officials ing changes in guidance for the less flu season and upcoming ing doses for the country, and spoil, said Brookie Crawford, way too many for a rural hospi- now hang their hopes on Mod- vaccine thermal shippers. COVID-19 vaccinations. Pub- they're not considered equal spokesperson for the Virginia tal in Arkansas. erna, whose vaccine comes in And in New Hampshire, where lic health department person- even though each is more than Department of Health’s central But with the logistical gym- containers of 100 doses, doesn’t the National Guard will help ad- nel in Kentucky shrank by 49% 90% effective at reducing dis- region. nastics required to safely get require deep freezing and is minister vaccines, officials last from 2009 to 2019, according to ease. Washington, on the other the Pfizer vaccine to rural health good for 30 days from the time week were still finalizing de- state data she supplied. Across In Wisconsin, the Moderna care workers, splitting the trays it’s shipped. tails for 13 community-based the country, 38,000 state and vaccine “gives us many more op- hand, allows hospitals without into smaller shipments has its The federal government had sites where first responders and local health positions have dis- tions” and “allows for us to get ultra-cold freezers to temporar- own dangers. Once out of the divvied up nearly 8 million dos- health care workers are due to appeared since the 2008 reces- doses to those smaller clinics, ily store Pfizer vaccines in the freezer that keeps it at 94 de- es of Pfizer and Moderna’s vac- get vaccinated later this month. sion. Per capita spending for more-rural clinics, in a way that thermal boxes they arrive in, grees below zero, the vaccine cines to distribute this week, on Jake Leon, a state Health and local health departments has reduces the number of logis- said Franji Mayes, spokesperson lasts only five days and must be top of roughly 3 million Pfizer Human Services spokesperson, dropped by 18% since 2010. tics” needed for ultra-cold stor- refrigerated in transit. shots that were sent last week, said that while the sites will be Nationally, Pfizer and Mod- age, Dr. Stephanie Schauer, the for the state’s health depart- In Arkansas — where more said Army Gen. Gustave Perna, able to administer both com- erna have signed contracts with state’s immunization program ment. That means a box needs than 40% of its counties are ru- chief operating officer of the panies’ vaccines, most likely the federal government to each manager, told reporters Dec. 16. to be used quickly, before doses ral and COVID-19 infections are ‘Trump administration’s Opera- they'll get Moderna’s because of provide 100 million vaccine ‘Alan Morgan, head of the Na- expire. “We are also working on dimbing — solving this distri tion Warp Speed effort. its easier transport. Even as the doses by the end of March; Mod- tional Rural Health Association, a policy that will allow hospitals bution puzzle is urgently c Perna said he took “personal earliest vaccines are injected, erna is set to deliver a second echoed that the Moderna vac- who don’t expect to vaccinate cal, said Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, responsibility” for overstating much remains up in the air. tranche of 100 million doses by cine is being looked to as a “ru- the state’s epidemiologist. how many Pfizer doses states “It's day to day and even then June. States were playing it safe ral solution.” But he said states 975 people to transfer extra vac- “If their providers come down would receive. hour by hour or minute by min- last week, directing Pfizer vials including Kansas have shown cine to other enrolled facilities,” with COVID-19,” Dillaha said, Federal delays have led to con- ute — what we know and how mainly to facilities with ultra- that a Pfizer rural rollout can be she said. “This will reduce wast- “there's no one there to take fusion, Dillaha said: “Sometimes we plan for it,” Leon said Friday. cold freezers, Hannan said. done. ed vaccine." care of the patients.” we don’t have information from “We're building the plane while “A lot of that vaccine is des- “It's where these states put a Such quandaries CDC or Operation Warp Speed resonate flying it.” tined for institutional facilities,” priority — either they prioritize rural or they don’t,” he said. “It's (Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a with officials in Georgia, Ken- until right before a decision In all, the Trump administra- Sean Dickson, director of health national health policy news service. tucky, Utah, Indiana, Wisconsin needs to be made.” tion has bought 900 million CO- policy for West Health Policy acautionary tale of what we may and Colorado. ‘The first push of Officials in other states paint- VID-19 vaccine doses from six Center, said of the Pfizer shots. see this spring, of rural popula- It is an editorially independent pro- the nation’s mass COVID-19 eda mixed picture of the rollout. companies, but most of the vac- ‘The center, with the University tions perhaps being second-tier gram of the Henry J. Kaiser Family vaccination effort has been cha- Georgia’s Coastal Health cines are still in clinical studies. of Pittsburgh School of Pharma- when it comes to vaccination.” Foundation which is not affiliated otic, marked by a lack of guid- District, which oversees public Even the front-runners whose cy, found that 35% of counties Virginia, too, has a plan for with Kaiser Permanente.) getting the Pfizer vaccine to far- ance and miscommunication health for eight counties and shots have received FDA emer- have two or fewer facilities to (()2020 Kaiser Health News from the federal level. has offices in Savannah and gency authorization — Pfizer administer COVID-19 vaccines. flung places. It’s shipping the vaccines to 18 health facilities Distributed by Tribune Content With Washington punting Brunswick, spent more than and BioNTech on Dec. 11, Mod- The analysis found tremen- most vaccination decisions, $27,000 on two ultra-cold freez- erna on Dec. 18 — will require dous variation in how far people with ultra-cold freezers across Agency, LLC each state and county is left to ers for the Pfizer vaccine, which months to manufacture at that would need to drive for the vac- weigh where to send vaccines it’s treating “like gold,” said Dr. scale. The Trump administra- cine. Residents of North Da- first and which of two vaccines Lawton Davis, its health direc- tion plans to distribute 20 mil- kota, South Dakota, Montana, authorized by the Food and tor. Health care workers are lion vaccine doses to states by Wyoming, Nebraska and Kan- Drug Administration for emer- being asked to travel, some up early January, Perna said Satur- sas face the longest drives, with gency use makes the most sense to 40 minutes, to get their vac- day. more than 10% living more than for each nursing home, hospital, cinations, because shipping By spring, officials hope to 10 miles from the closest facility local health department and them would risk wasting doses, stage broader vaccine deploy- that could administer a shot. even school. And after warning he said. Vaccination uptake has ment beyond top-priority popu- Counties with long driving for months that they lacked the been lower than Davis would lations of health care workers, distances between sites and a resources to distribute vaccines, like to see, “It’s sort of a jigsaw nursing home residents and low number of sites overall “are state officials are only now set to. puzzle and balancing act,” he staff, as well as first responders. going to be the hardest ones to receive a major bump in funding said. “We're kind of learning as During the effort to vaccinate reach,” said Inmaculada Her- — $8.75 billion in Congress’ lat- we go.” ‘Americans against H1N1, Dil- nandez, an assistant professor est relief bill. In Utah, sites to vaccinate laha said, health departments at the University of Pittsburgh ‘The feat facing public health set up mass vaccination clinics “Tt is a privilege and a teachers and first responders School of Pharmacy and lead au- officials has “absolutely no com- starting in January had no ca- in their counties and delivered thor of the analysis. parison” in recent history, said pability to store the Pfizer vac- doses to schools. But hospitals Certain vaccines could be Claire Hannan, executive direc- tor of the Association of Immu- ine, although officials are try- ing to secure some ultra-cold are taking charge of parts of better suited for such places, including Johnson & Johnson’s the initial COVID-19 immuni- blessing to have you in my life. zation campaign, both because potential offering, which is a nization Managers. storage, a state department of Officials who thought the health spokesperson said. Very health care workers are at high- single shot, and health depart- I couldn't have hoped for HIN1 swine flu shot in 2009 few of Kentucky's local health est risk of illness or death from ments could distribute in rural was a logistical nightmare say it now looks simple in comparison. offices could store the Pfizer shots, because of refrigeration COVID-19, and to pick up the slack from health departments areas through mobile units, she said. The company is expected a better son." “Tt was a flu vaccine, It was one reauirements and the size of overwhelmed bv case investiga- to avvlv for FDA emergency au-