INOLA, Okla. — You don’t see it often, but a Green Country police officer found himself in handcuffs on May 28.
He’s accused of pawning equipment owned by the Inola Police Department.
2 News Oklahoma asked local law enforcement how this could’ve even happened.
Cameras on Wednesday night captured Rogers County deputies arresting Officer Isaiah Roberts.
Roberts worked at the Inola Police Department. The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office said he took several items from there and pawned them off.
“A few days ago,” Sheriff Scott Walton recalled to 2 News, “Isaiah Roberts made application to the Rogers County Sheriff's Office for position as a detention officer, and he was interviewed.”
Walton told us they started a background check, and it wasn’t long till they found Roberts had a history of pawning items.
“One of the items that he pawned was an expensive night-vision-type scope for a rifle that belonged to the Inola Police Department,” the sheriff explained. “So, obviously, red flag shoots up.”
Walton said Inola police confirmed the missing equipment and that Roberts stopped by the Rogers County Courthouse on Wednesday, thinking he was getting that job. But he could not have been any more wrong.
WATCH: 'Insulting': Inola police officer arrested for allegedly pawning equipment
Instead, Walton said Roberts found himself in handcuffs. The affidavit said Roberts admitted to IPD on Wednesday to having the scope.
What’s more, the sheriff told us the background check also found other red flags, ones that made him question Roberts’ character -- such as his driver’s license being suspended several times and him often being late on child support payments.
When we asked how could the IPD not have known about this, Walton replied, “Hmm. I'm gonna leave that question for them to answer.”
But, he added: “I don't think it's my business to address how they do background checks, but I mean, I can tell you that it was not long into this background check that our investigator found these red flags and they only got redder.”
Inola Police Chief Cliff Stevens backed out of an on-camera interview we scheduled for Thursday, saying he was getting “requests from many different outlets.”
Instead, he told us he planned to send a news release vetted by the city’s attorney. 2 News will update this story once we have received that release.
As for how someone could get away with this for as long as Roberts allegedly did, Walton said, “It certainly showcases a flawed system that somebody can stay in this position and go from one agency to another and have a track record like this.”
Walton argued if local law enforcement were paid more, then they’d maybe see fewer cases like this.
“We’ve done the profession of law enforcement a favor,” he emphasized.
“It's insulting to me that someone thinks that they can get a job in a fine organization like this with fine men and women doing a great job and not this stuff be disclosed.”
Roberts faces one count of embezzlement.
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