Fired Inola officer charged with embezzling police property
A former Inola police officer accused of pawning a police thermal scope while still an officer faces one count of felony embezzlement.
District Attorney Matt Ballard's office charged Isaiah Roberts Thursday; the Inola Board of Trustees fired Roberts from his position on the Inola Police Department Monday after police chief Clifford Stevens placed him on suspension May 29.
The Rogers County Sheriff's Office arrested Roberts May 28. He was released on bail later that same night.
Roberts had applied for a job with the sheriff's office, said Sheriff Scott Walton. He said a background check revealed Roberts had taken a thermal scope that belonged to Inola police and got a $300 loan for it at a Broken Arrow pawnshop May 12.
"We find out he's got a history of pawning things, which is not illegal unless you're pawning property that's not yours and saying that it is," Walton said. "... He shows up [to the sheriff's office] thinking that he was going to get a tour and a second interview — whatever, I don't know what he thought — but instead he got arrested."
Stevens said a supervisor checked out to Roberts the same Sig Sauer Echo 3 thermal reflex sight that Walton said was sold to Penrose Pawnshop in Broken Arrow. Inola purchased the sight in August 2023 for $2,398, Stevens said.
According to the probable cause statement for Roberts' arrest, Roberts admitted May 28 he had pawned the scope, and Penrose Pawnshop owner Eric Garman signed a statement confirming Roberts was the person who had sold it to him.
Inola hired Roberts in September 2024. Stevens said Roberts had previously worked for the Wagoner Police Department and Jenks Public Schools before joining the Inola police.
Stevens said he is not able to share much about the situation at this time because the investigation is ongoing.
"It's already hard enough that we're trying to build our trust in our community back up and let them know that this is an isolated incident and has nothing to reflect on the officers that's here," Stevens said.
Roberts is deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. He will face a no issue preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. June 30 at the Rogers County Courthouse.
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