Man Suspected Of Theft Arrested After Sand Springs Police Chase

A Claremore man is in the Tulsa County jail after leading Sand Springs police on a chase Tuesday.

He is identified as 31-year-old Bryan Whorton.  

Police say Whorton is suspected of stealing items from the Sand Springs Walmart.  He led officers on a chase reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour.

Osage SkyNews 6 HD was flying over the scene as officers took him into custody.

Police say neighbors played a crucial role in putting Whorton behind bars.

“I’ve lived out here my whole life and I’ve never seen that before, ever,” said Caleb Padgett.

Tuesday afternoon, officers approached Padgett and asked if he had seen a green minivan.  He said he hadn’t, at first, but then he noticed something suspicious in his neighbors backyard.

"We didn’t see nothing at all, then turned around and they were behind the neighbor’s house, hiding,” he said.

Just before 2 p.m., Sand Springs police got a call from Walmart saying a man named Bryan Whorton tried to run out the door with about $100 worth of merchandise.  Police say Walmart tried to detain Whorton, but he took off.

“They saw him get into a green Dodge minivan and gave us a description of the tag number,” said Captain Todd Enzbrenner.

Officers say they chased Whorton on Highway 412 until he got off at 177th West Avenue and drove north towards Anderson Elementary School.

They say this is the second pursuit they’ve gone on near that school this week.

“It’s never a good idea to run,” Captain Enzbrenner said.  “It endangers so many other lives.  It’s not just your life and the officer’s life, but it’s the unsuspecting public, as well.”

Captain Enzbrenner says officers lost sight of the suspect when they go to the school, but they were able to find him thanks to neighbors like Padgett.

“We have to have the help of our community to do our jobs effectively, so it’s fantastic whenever we get help like that,” Enzbrenner said.

“I don’t know why you’d run from the cops,” Padgett said.  “It just makes things worse.”

Police say Whorton also has a felony warrant out of Rogers County, as well as an extensive criminal history there, involving several drug and burglary charges.