this really makes tulsa look great for the PGA

[brunoflipper]

yeehaw, we look great....

A man who is accused of robbing and shooting a PGA Championship visitor was arrested Wednesday.

Gerald Staples, 24, was caught after a vehicle and foot pursuit Wednesday afternoon and was booked into the Tulsa Jail on complaints of armed robbery, shooting with an intent to kill, kidnapping, third-degree arson, assault with a deadly weapon and sexual battery.

The 24-year-old victim, who was in town for last week's golf tournament at Southern Hills Country Club, was waiting for a taxi outside the Tabu Club in the 3300 block of East 51st Street about 3 a.m. Saturday when three men offered him a ride home, according to Staples' arrest report.

Once the victim was in the vehicle, one of the men flashed a pistol, and "at that point the victim knew he was not free to go," the report states. The robbers forced the man to go into the condominium he was renting in the 2100 block of East 59th Street.

Once inside, the robbers pistol-whipped the man, stripped him naked and urinated on him before ransacking the condo and taking the man's SUV keys, cell phone and other property, the arrest report states.

As one of the robbers was leaving
the condo, he shot the victim in the stomach, leaving him for dead, according to the report, but the victim was able to run outside for help. But the robbers had not yet left the condo complex and saw the man when he ran outside, police said.

They then shot him several more times, hitting him in the legs, before fleeing in their vehicle and the victim's Chevrolet Tahoe, the report states.

The man was taken to a hospital in serious condition. His SUV, which had been burned, was found a few hours later in the 10200 block of East 34th Street.

Investigators developed Staples as a suspect and tried to pull over a car that he and another man were in Wednesday near 21st Street and U.S. 169.

The car didn't stop, and officers chased it to near 21st Street and Memorial Drive, where the car became stuck and both men fled into the neighborhood on foot, Capt. Karen Ford said.

Police were able to track down both men and arrest them within a few minutes, Ford said. The second man is not implicated in the PGA visitor's assault.

According to Staples' arrest report, witnesses told detectives that he had confessed to them that he was one of the robbers and had told them the names of his accomplices.

Staples is jailed in lieu of $212,500 bail.
rap sheet- a little pot, a little drugs, a little car theft, alittle assault and battery... gerald is probably a nice guy im sure

[DM]

The guy went to a strip club and took two guys back to his house that he was renting for the week. Talk about asking for trouble.

[Breadburner]

To me it makes that guy look like a dumba$$.....No reflection on the City itself.....He made some poor choices.....

[AMP]

That story was all over the AM Talk radio early Monday morning.  

[RecycleMichael]

The guy left clues to trace it back to him, was seen driving around town and had some of the victim's stuff in the car.

He quickly confessed to the crime then rolled on his friends.

His name was Staples.

Catching him must have been just like the store slogan..."that was easy".

[Rowdy]

Yeehaw we have criminals like everywhere else. Bruno you act like this happened on the golf course. This does not reflect bad on Tulsa or the PGA.

[brunoflipper]

oh come on... settle the **** down... the whirled included the fact that he was here for the PGA in the headline... put PGA and Tulsa into  google news and sort by date, it is currently the second hit... the fact that he was here for the PGA is purely incidental... but the whirled put in the header that way, not me...

sure the guy is a dumbass- strip bar at 3AM? by your self? taking a ride from strangers? but i'm sure he was loaded... but let's not all just blame the victim....

what astounded me were the details of the report-
they offer him a ride outside a club at 3AM he takes it... they take him at gunpoint to his rent house... pistol-whip him, strip him naked, piss on him and then shoot him in the stomach for kicks... thinking they've left he runs outside for help and, instead of speeding away, they shoot him again several more times??? this was particularly violent and ballsy crime... these guys are some mean ****ers...

rowdy/breadburner- it reflects poorly on tulsa overall because of our ever-growing and insanely high crime rate... and nobody seems to be doing a damn thing to curb it...
i'm convinced that the cops are all pissed at the mayor and it is probably impacting there performance...

/asbestos undies on

[cannon_fodder]

1) NO kiddin' these were some mean suckers.  Why would you shoot the man after robbing him?  If anything, it would make the police investigate more.

2) While clearly a reflection on Tulsa, I don't think it will be negative national attention as this type of crime is unfortunately not that uncommon.

3) Clearly this man made horrible choices.  Still not his fault, but a wiser man would have avoided the situation.

4)

quote:Investigators developed Staples as a suspect and tried to pull over a car that he and another man were in Wednesday near 21st Street and U.S. 169.

The car didn't stop, and officers chased it to near 21st Street and Memorial Drive, where the car became stuck and both men fled into the neighborhood on foot, Capt. Karen Ford said.

Thank god the cops were allowed to chase so this monster got caught.

5) Hope the victim gets better and the criminal gets worse.

[DM]

quote:Originally posted by brunoflipper

it reflects poorly on tulsa overall because of our ever-growing and insanely high crime rate... and nobody seems to be doing a damn thing to curb it...
i'm convinced that the cops are all pissed at the mayor and it is probably impacting there performance...

I don't think it reflects on our city at all. This could have happened anywhere. The victim made some very bad choices. Do the same in any other city and chances are he would have run into the same bad experience. I think overall our police did a great job protecting the visitors for the PGA. It also looks good that OUR police caught the criminals in such a short amount of time.

quote: Police were able to track down both men and arrest them within a few minutes, Ford said

[Conan71]

What bothers me is I can't believe how low they set Staples bail.

Looking at his OSCN file, they've had to issue bench warrants on this guy before.  If he gets back out, I bet he skips town.

I bet his drug-dealin' homies can scratch up $21K for a bail bond.

[marc]

Unfortunately visitors to strange cities are often the victims of crime, partly because they don't know the area. I know of people who have been robbed while visiting bigger cities to view professional baseball games. Although I doubt if those cities let the isolated actions of miscreants deprive them of their civic pride or their support of professional sports. But here in Tulsa, of course, there is a constant effort to ruin everything that is good.

The PGA tournament seemed like a tremendous success to me, so I am sure the anti-Tulsa crowd and the usual AM radio ilk are frantically working overtime to spin a positive into a negative.

If nothing else, they can continue to harp on "it was August, it was hot, we can't have another golf majors here!" Despite the fact that much of the country was as hot, or hotter during the same week.

[iplaw]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

What bothers me is I can't believe how low they set Staples bail.

Looking at his OSCN file, they've had to issue bench warrants on this guy before.  If he gets back out, I bet he skips town.

I bet his drug-dealin' homies can scratch up $21K for a bail bond.

Why would he do that when he can just use his Easy Button?

[Rowdy]

quote:Originally posted by brunoflipper

oh come on... settle the **** down... the whirled included the fact that he was here for the PGA in the headline... put PGA and Tulsa into  google news and sort by date, it is currently the second hit... the fact that he was here for the PGA is purely incidental... but the whirled put in the header that way, not me...

sure the guy is a dumbass- strip bar at 3AM? by your self? taking a ride from strangers? but i'm sure he was loaded... but let's not all just blame the victim....

what astounded me were the details of the report-
they offer him a ride outside a club at 3AM he takes it... they take him at gunpoint to his rent house... pistol-whip him, strip him naked, piss on him and then shoot him in the stomach for kicks... thinking they've left he runs outside for help and, instead of speeding away, they shoot him again several more times??? this was particularly violent and ballsy crime... these guys are some mean ****ers...

rowdy/breadburner- it reflects poorly on tulsa overall because of our ever-growing and insanely high crime rate... and nobody seems to be doing a damn thing to curb it...
i'm convinced that the cops are all pissed at the mayor and it is probably impacting there performance...

/asbestos undies on

I went ahead and put Tulsa and PGA in the Google News and I do not see this article no matter how I filter it.

[RecycleMichael]

I don't think the police officers and their like or dislike of the Mayor has anything to do with that case. I don't like your implying that our police force is not doing all they can to fight crime.

I do think that the Tulsa World should have not put PGA in headline. It drew undue attention and it did not matter why he was here, he was a visitor. If anything, the headline should have said "Strip Club patron".

I go to Dallas frequently as a visitor. The Dallas Morning News has a headline every time I read it that puts a chill in me. I imagine the ratio of crazy, mean criminals is similar to Tulsa and other cities but it makes me afraid to leave my hotel room.

Today, that paper has a story of a teen killed by a carjacker. The kid left his car running at a taco stand just after midnight and was shot while running toward the car as it backed out.

The world is a scary place, especially in the middle of the night.

[brunoflipper]

quote:Originally posted by Rowdy

quote:Originally posted by brunoflipper

oh come on... settle the **** down... the whirled included the fact that he was here for the PGA in the headline... put PGA and Tulsa into  google news and sort by date, it is currently the second hit... the fact that he was here for the PGA is purely incidental... but the whirled put in the header that way, not me...

sure the guy is a dumbass- strip bar at 3AM? by your self? taking a ride from strangers? but i'm sure he was loaded... but let's not all just blame the victim....

what astounded me were the details of the report-
they offer him a ride outside a club at 3AM he takes it... they take him at gunpoint to his rent house... pistol-whip him, strip him naked, piss on him and then shoot him in the stomach for kicks... thinking they've left he runs outside for help and, instead of speeding away, they shoot him again several more times??? this was particularly violent and ballsy crime... these guys are some mean ****ers...

rowdy/breadburner- it reflects poorly on tulsa overall because of our ever-growing and insanely high crime rate... and nobody seems to be doing a damn thing to curb it...
i'm convinced that the cops are all pissed at the mayor and it is probably impacting there performance...

/asbestos undies on

I went ahead and put Tulsa and PGA in the Google News and I do not see this article no matter how I filter it.

it was there this morning...