PAWNEE, Okla. – A northern Oklahoma tribe is under new leadership this week - a move following on the heels of two arrests in a three-day window.
According to a statement issued by the Pawnee Nation Thursday morning, Pawnee Business Committee President Misty Nuttle tendered her immediate resignation Wednesday night, citing family needs. Nuttle was elected president in May after previously serving as the business committee’s treasurer.
However, according to law enforcement records, Nuttle was arrested and booked by two separate law enforcement agencies just days before her resignation.
The first arrest came Monday around 12:30 a.m., when Nuttle was stopped by the Skiatook Police Department near the intersection of Highway 11 and Rogers Boulevard for running a stop sign. According to the probable cause statement, the arresting officer, Tony Harper, smelled marijuana in Nuttle’s 2008 jeep while the vehicle was pulled over and eventually found a small plastic bag of what appeared to be marijuana, along with a partially smoked joint.
During the stop, both the SPD dispatcher and Nuttle advised Harper that she did not have a valid drivers license. Nuttle had nine previous charges, dating back to 1994, for driving with a suspended license. SPD to arrested and booked her for driving with a suspended license.
An unnamed male passenger in the jeep was also arrested for marijuana possession.
Under Oklahoma law, driving with a suspended license is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine and up to one year in jail.
According to OK Vine, an offender registry used by all 77 Oklahoma county jails and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Nuttle was arrested and detained at the Pawnee County Jail on Wednesday.
The Pawnee Police Department confirmed that a woman was arrested Wednesday, but deferred identification to the Pawnee County Jail. When called Friday, the jail’s records division was not staffed and the request for confirmation was deferred until Monday.
Attempts to call Nuttle for comment Thursday afternoon and Friday morning were unsuccessful.
When reached Friday, a spokesman for the Pawnee Nation declined to comment on whether Nuttle’s resignation is connected to either arrest. The conditions of her arrest are not included among the reasons listed in the Pawnee Nation’s constitution as cause for a removal petition.
As per the tribe’s constitution, a special election will be conducted within 60 days to fill Nuttle’s seat. In the interim, Pawnee Business Committee Vice President Bruce Pratt has assumed the duties of president.