Purcell Police Arrest Three On Drug Charges Near Middle School

Calls from concerned neighbors led to a trio of arrests. Police say the suspects were smoking marijuana in front of kids and near a school. The encounter played out on camera near an elementary school and a middle school on the west side of town in Purcell.

Police say it happened about 800 feet from the school campus at an apartment complex, and a woman called 911.

“I’m sitting outside, and these teenagers come down from downstairs carrying a big sack of weed, and I don’t want that around my kids. They’re sitting outside rolling a blunt right now.”

It was all in plain view and right by a school.

“When officers arrived on the scene they actually found two people in the vehicle, and they smelled an odor associated with marijuana emanating from the vehicle,” Purcell Police Department Lt. Kevin Austin said.

The vehicle looked suspicious to people who live in the area, with out-of-state tags and no doubt what was going on inside. Officer body camera video captured the encounter with police.

Police: “Get your hands where I can see them. What did you stuff in your pocket?”

Suspect: “It’s just my wallet.”

Police: “Keep it where I can see it.”

“One of them as he was exiting the vehicle, he had what’s called ‘shake’ on his clothing, which is the green leafy substance of him actually rolling marijuana in the vehicle,” Austin said. “That individual also had warrants out of Cleveland County, as well.”

“Ah-ha! Mr. Kodey, I’ve been looking for you,” the officer said.

Police arrested Kodey Tahsequah, Madelyn Browning and Chandra Willoughby. Officers then got a search warrant for a unit at the apartment complex.

“They were able to locate almost a half-pound of marijuana and approximately 133 schedule 4 Xanax tablets. The indicators at the scene is that it was a distribution point,” Austin said.

All because of a phone call from an alert mom looking out, not only for her children but the ones down the road as well.

“That’s why they called us, which is great, because we love those kinds of calls,” Austin said.

All three suspects were charged with several counts, including possession of drugs with intent to distribute.