With KWTV News 9, KFOR Channel 4, and KOKH Fox 25 all in Governor Stitt’s dog house thanks to their election season reporting, KOCO Channel 5 has stepped up to let the Governor know he still has at least one local news channel in his corner.
Last week, right before the world checked out for Thanksgiving break, Channel 5 set out to answer the big question everyone was asking following the Drew Stitt “Guthrie Haunts” saga – was Drew treated unfairly because his dad is the very well connected and powerful Governor of Oklahoma?
The answer according to KOCO news sleuth Evan Onstot is a resounding “Yes.”
You've probably seen the headlines and the body camera video floating around the web showing Gov. Kevin Stitt's son's recent interaction with Logan County deputies….
Numerous questions are coming out of this. Did he receive preferential treatment? Was there a cover-up?…
KOCO 5's reporting determined that yes, he was treated differently – harsher than anyone involved in a similar incident this year.
Yep, it’s official.
Out of all the intoxicated and privileged 20-year-olds who were nabbed by the Logan County Sherrif’s department picking up the guns they left in the parking lot of a haunted house while out drinking with friends on Halloween night, Drew Stitt – the Governor’s son who was driving without a license plate, had two cases of alcohol in his truck, and had to wait nearly 30 minutes for OHP to arrive on the scene and personally escort him back to Stillwater – was treated harsher than other people in similar situations.
Channel 5 knows this because they filed an open records request to see just how many other times in 2022 the Logan County Sheriff’s Department filed an affidavit to the DA for “minor in possession.”
I guess Drew's was the only one.
In a hard-hitting interview, Evan confronted the Logan County Sherrif with this fact:
The sheriff told KOCO 5 that nearly every time a deputy responds to a minor in possession of alcohol, it is confiscated, and the minor is sent home with his or her parents.
"I was told this is the only affidavit that was turned over to the District Attorney's Office for minor in possession in 2022," KOCO 5's Evan Onstot said to Devereaux.
"That is correct," the sheriff responded.
"Correct? This is the only one?" Onstot followed up.
"This is the only one. So, so…," Devereaux said.
"Sheriff. Really quick. It almost seems then that this young man, the governor's son, was definitely treated differently in some ways, but not in a positive way because of who he was. Is that fair to say?" Onstot asked.
"That is fair to say," Devereaux said.
"Is that OK on the other end? Because I know you're being accused of treating him better because he's the governor's son. But, did you treat him worse?" Onstot asked.
"Well, in some factors, you could look at it that way," Devereaux said.
Wow. Can you believe it?
In today’s day and age, when secrets are hard if not impossible to keep, body cam footage exists, and most elected officials are aware of optics and public perception, the Logan County Sheriff’s Department kept things extra-official and by-the-book and created a paper trail after they learned that the 20-year-old intoxicated kid with all the guns who immediately “clarified” his dad was the Governor was, in fact, the son of the Governor.
It’s almost like county officials knew that word of the incident would eventually get out, and they had to charge the 20-year-old Drew – who was intoxicated and carrying two cases of disgusting alcohol in his truck – with "minor in possession," or they’d otherwise be accused of playing favorites, looking the other way, and having even a bigger scandal on their hands.
Or, as KOCO would put it, they had to treat Drew Stitt “harsher than most.”
The sheriff told KOCO 5 that Drew Stitt has been offered a deferred prosecution by the district attorney, which he said is very common and may require the governor's son to do community service and alcohol training with some fees on top of that.
Logan County District Attorney Laura Thomas told KOCO 5 that the program was rolled out in 2021 to keep people with crimes like minor in possession out of the criminal justice system. She said this program is only offered to individuals with no prior record.
Yep, not only will Drew have to do community service and go through a mysterious “alcohol training” course, but he won’t get to experience the Oklahoma criminal justice system!
Talk about harsh, huh?
If you want a good laugh, you can read / watch the full report here. Evan also examines if Drew got preferential treatment when OHP arrived to escort him back to his frat house in Stillwater. Obviously, the answer according to them is a resounding “No.”
Also, if you're bored, you can check out our Thanksgiving news drop about Drew Stitt's parking problems on the OSU Campus!
As we mentioned, Drew has been using an OHP "Executive Security" placard in an attempt to get out of parking tickets, and one time even tried to unsuccessfully remove a parking boot off of his vehicle with an angle grinder.
We’ve acquired via the Ogle Mole Network a pic of the parking boot Drew Stitt attempted to remove from his vehicle using an angle grinder! The damage is circled. pic.twitter.com/5RmB7a3hZr
— The Lost Ogle (@TheLostOgle) November 24, 2022
We should have more details on that story soon. When we do, I can't wait to watch the KOCO follow-up investigation as to whether or not Lil' Stitter was treated more harshly than other OSU students who try to cut parking boots off their vehicles.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised,
