Last week, Jeremy Eugene Floyd, 30, of Muldrow was arrested in Arkansas on a Sequoyah County warrant alleging two counts of embezzlement and one count of grand larceny from his time as police chief for three months last year.
At the time of his arrest, Floyd was working as a patrolman with Bethel Heights Police Department in Arkansas. After learning of the charges, Bethel Heights Police Chief Don McKinnon later arrested Floyd on the warrant.
Floyd waived extradition to Sequoyah County and was released on a $7,000 bond from the Sequoyah County Jail in Sallisaw at 3 p.m. Friday, a jail official said.
Floyd is accused of stealing a utility vehicle, worth about $9,000, from an equipment display at Simon's Ace Home Center in Vian in late July. The theft, which was captured on a surveillance video, was investigated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI).
Floyd, who was hired as Vian's chief in April 2007, resigned as chief just days before the OSBI arrived to investigate.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, filed last week, the OSBI reported that a witness told police that shortly after reporting suspicious activity in the equipment display area, the witness observed a police vehicle parked between buildings to the south of the equipment display.
City of Vian records show that Floyd was the only officer on duty during the time frame of the theft of the vehicle, Lyons reported.
A hardware store employee told the OSBI that a week to a week and a half prior to the theft, Floyd allegedly obtained a key to a utility vehicle, a Cub Cadet. The employee reported the keys are universal to all Cub Cadets. Another employee reported that around mid-July Floyd made inquiries about the cost of the utility vehicle.
Floyd is also accused of taking $595 in cash that was seized during an arrest and allegedly placed in evidence at the police department, according to the affidavit.
During an interview with an OSBI investigator, Floyd allegedly admitted that there had been cash locked in a file cabinet when he took office. He removed the cash from the file cabinet to the evidence room, but never logged the money into the evidence log. Floyd denied that he stole the money.
Floyd is also accused of using a town fuel credit card issued to a car that was deemed surplus to make more than $1,300 in purchases from about July 3, 2007, through July 26, 2007.
During an interview, Floyd maintained that he returned the card to the town clerk after receiving a new credit card for his new vehicle. He denied that he had used the card on the dates shown in the records.
If convicted of the alleged crimes, Floyd could face up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines, as well as restitution.
