A Sapulpa woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison with five years of supervised release for a deadly shooting in Sand Springs in 2024 for the shooting of Isaac Smith several times in a gas station parking lot Kelley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder back in November, and she was sentenced on May 1, 2025. She is a Muscogee Creek Nation citizen and will be transferred to the U.S Original Story: Suspect In Fatal Sand Springs Gas Station Shooting Identified Kelley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder back in November, and she was sentenced on May 1, 2025. Original Story: Suspect In Fatal Sand Springs Gas Station Shooting Identified and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox Authorities are investigating a fatal crash near Highway 33 and South 193rd West Avenue west of Sapulpa two vehicles were traveling southbound on the highway when a Chevy Tahoe attempted to turn left onto 193rd West Avenue Troopers said Harn was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene The driver of the Tahoe was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening Updates will be provided as more information becomes available Brooke Cox is a Digital Producer at News On 6 where she has been part of the team since August 2024 and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox Sapulpa’s Route 66 Christmas Chute won’t be held next year 2024 was the event's busiest year with a record number of visitors from more than 40 states and a dozen countries Why is the Route 66 Christmas Chute taking a one-year break The City of Sapulpa is starting construction to improve the downtown streetscapes Below are renderings from the City of what the renovations will look like: it took us two years to plan year one and it's kind of the same thing,” Jennifer Dilley we are much smarter about a lot of the things we have to do The renovations will make the setup easier for volunteers Instead of manual labor to lift the panels "That is a lot of heavy lifting for the crew that does that so that's one of the things we are looking forward to is really trying to work smarter and not harder,” Dilley said Organizers are planning on making the Chute’s return the following year to celebrate the Centennial of Route 66 “There is going to be so much going on that year and we are excited to be a part of that and unveil our Route 66 Christmas Chute in 2026 and the hundredth anniversary,” Dilley said “The new and improved streetscape and chute as well." For more information, click here Ryan Gillin graduated from the University of Alabama with degrees in News Media and Communication Studies Ryan Gillin joined News On 6 as a multimedia journalist in July 2022 \"That is a lot of heavy lifting for the crew that does that so that's one of the things we are looking forward to is really trying to work smarter and not harder,” Dilley said “The new and improved streetscape and chute as well.\" For more information, click here Employees at Paragon in Sapulpa say they haven't been paid in weeks The steel pipe manufacturer has been in the community for more than 40 years and the company and CEO are facing several lawsuits Don Cato works at the Sapulpa pipe manufacturer He survived the layoffs in December but says he hasn't been paid since January 1st Cato is worried he's going to lose his home He says the company cut his pay a few months ago and now he hasn't received a paycheck at all Emails from the company to salaried employees say checks are unavailable with no other details included Derek Wachob have been bombarded with lawsuits since last year Wachob and the business face more than $200 million in lawsuits with more expected The suits claim Wachob took investor money to fund his lavish lifestyle and owes millions in unpaid invoices to companies Paragon and Wachob have done business with Paragon laid-off some employees just days before Christmas but they were told in a letter that the layoffs were due to a downturn in the market Wachob has been selling luxury cars and other personal assets LLC filed a $7.6 million lawsuit against Paragon and Global Source Recycling It says they loaned Global Source recycling money and the collateral was sitting on land in Muskogee the Recycling company promised to make payments The suit says that according to the agreement if Global Source Recycling defaulted on the loan the collateral would immediately be shipped to them The lawsuit says the company defaulted on the loan and the collateral was never delivered September 25th: Amarillo National Bank files a $10 million lawsuit against Paragon and Wachob for non-payment of a loan September 27th: AM/NS Calvert sues Paragon for $31.5 million plus interest The steel company says between January of 2023 and May of 2024 Paragon bought products from Calvert worth more than $15 million dollars and hasn’t paid for them Calvert and Paragon entered a consignment agreement that resulted in more than $16 million in losses to the Calvert company because of non-payment by Paragon October 3rd: Nucor Steel out of Arkansas sues Paragon for $32 million plus another $8 million in interest Nucor says Paragon bought large amounts of sheet steel from them and never paid for it Documents say Paragon placed 47 orders between April and August of 2022 October 22nd: A WARN Letter was sent to Paragon employees saying layoffs could happen between December 21st and January 4th The letters say the company has seen a business slowdown and it's had to reduce its operations The letter goes on to say they are trying to find ways to limit the number of layoffs as the company is working hard to obtain contracts It says Wachob told the Bravers he would buy steel products at low prices and sell them at higher prices The Bravers say Wachob promised to match their investments dollar for dollar They say they gave him money 24 different times to purchase 82,123 tons of industrial rolled steel valued at $55 million between November of 2023 and August of 2024 It says he never told them Paragon was heavily in debt and not able to pay its bills of around $45 million at the time and had they known that they would never have invested It says they never got any of their money back and never received any profits from the deals They accuse Wachob of using all that money to fund his lavish lifestyle accusing the company of holding $67 million worth of steel coils and piping belonging to them It says $12 million in steel coils can't be accounted for and they believe it's being shipped by the truckloads to unknown destinations December 9th: Luxury Cars spotted being loaded onto trailers near Paragon December 16th: Edgen Murray files a lawsuit in Federal Court in Texas for more than 14 million dollars for a fraudulent investment December 23rd: Some employees are laid-off just days before Christmas 2025: A group of former friends and Investors (Schouten Mead & Nossman) re-file suit against Wachob & companies in Tulsa county January 15th: Some salaried employees say they did not receive checks for January January 23rd: Company email goes out saying that salary checks are not available January 24th: Another company email saying salary checks are not available January 29th: Employees tell News On 6 they have still not been paid Police responded to two reported break-ins near Line Avenue and Mission Street in Sapulpa early Monday evening the first incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m A resident reported that someone had broken into their home and physically assaulted them before fleeing the scene officers received a report of another break-in in the same area Sapulpa police set up a perimeter and began investigating Officers found and arrested a suspect in connection with the incidents The victim of the first break-in sustained minor injuries but was not seriously hurt Investigators are now processing both scenes for evidence Stay with News On 6 for updates as more information becomes available David Prock is a digital content producer for Griffin Media and is a regular contributor to both News9.com and NewsOn6.com Some parents in Creek County are furious after a former teacher from Lone Star School in Sapulpa is arrested and accused of stealing $28,175.03 from the school's Booster Club as well as from a fellow teacher with cancer Myra Flores-Harmon was booked into and bonded out of jail Wednesday She appeared in court Thursday morning and will have a hearing on March 25 The affidavit says Myra Flores-Harmon had written more than $13,000 worth of unauthorized checks to her husband used the booster club credit card to partly pay for a cruise and took money that had been donated for a teacher with cancer Update: Additional embezzlement charges filed against former Lone Star School teacher Mismanagement and misuse of funds at Lone Star Schools Sapulpa Police say in an affidavit she wrote 35 checks to her husband for electrical and handy work around the school It says the school wouldn't use booster club money for that or hire her husband The superintendent of Lone Star sent a letter to parents saying Flores-Harmon was fired from her job as a teacher after the school's athletic booster club learned a vendor hadn't been paid That's when the school started the internal investigation The letter says the school and booster club are separate and the district doesn't oversee the club's account Police say Flores-Harmon used booster club money to partly pay for a cruise The affidavit also says she was in charge of a raffle for the cheer team and kept more than a thousand dollars from the raffle  It also says she was in charge of collecting donations for a teacher with cancer and kept more than a thousand dollars of that money too The superintendent of Lone Star School says the school has taken necessary steps to fix some issues like adding measures for transparency and reviewing accounting protocols Financial discrepancies at Kellyville Schools The Kellyville Superintendent says Flores-Harmon was also involved with its football booster club and they've since discovered they've got about $5,000 missing "Just some withdrawals that other Booster Club members didn't know what that money was for $500 here $500 there are some different things and nobody knew what those withdrawals were for," said Dan Gist Dan Gist says Kellyville Schools and its football booster club are separate and sent the financial records to Kellyville Police last November News On 6 contacted Kellyville Police but no one was available I don't know whether funds were stolen or not where those funds were and what happened to them Flores-Harmon is charged with embezzlement and unauthorized use of a credit card She is scheduled to be in court Thursday morning Update: Additional embezzlement charges filed against former Lone Star School teacher \"Just some withdrawals that other Booster Club members didn't know what that money was for and nobody knew what those withdrawals were for,\" said Dan Gist Firefighters are investigating the cause of a fire that broke out at Central U.S Golf Carts in Sapulpa early Friday morning The Sapulpa battalion chief believes everything inside is a total loss Crews are currently monitoring the back of the building to ensure no hotspots flare up A fire marshal is expected to arrive later to determine the cause of the blaze The manager of the business confirmed that no one was inside at the time which were sold and scheduled for delivery to owners later on Friday and updates will be provided as they become available A Sapulpa mom is relieved her family is OK after waking up to find a stranger inside her home Officers arrested the man after they say he also broke into a different house across the street and attacked a woman living inside Police arrested Sergio Perez-Mendez in the backyard of one of the victims They say he broke into both homes near North Mission Street and East Line Avenue around 6 a.m A woman living in the first home that Perez-Mendez entered told News On 6 that she was in bed with her grandchild when she saw a man standing in her doorway The victim says the man barricaded himself in a room and then started attacking her with a knife The woman has several scars on her head and chest Police say Perez-Mendez then went across the street to Yvette Mitchell’s home where she and her family were inside sleeping Mitchell says she found the man inside her home petting the family cat 'Who are you?' and he stood up and turned around and looked at me,” said Mitchell Mitchell told the man to leave and then called 911 “They’ve told us he attacked someone else with a knife and that’s when it kicked in,” she said Police say Perez-Mendez is not from the area but was staying in a home on the same street as both of the houses he broke into Police say he faces charges of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon A native Oklahoman and Emmy-award-winning reporter Day grew up in Owasso and graduated from the University of Oklahoma The Route 66 Christmas Chute is becoming a holiday tradition for families This year is the Chute's third season along Dewey Avenue in historic downtown Sapulpa Decorating the nearly 1,000 feet of panels takes a lot of lights and ornaments I do not even know the kind of number to put on that," said Will Berry a member of the Route 66 Christmas Chute committee The themes inside the Route 66 Christmas Chute are Nativity Berry said the decorators add a little bit more each year and change the layout They also had a new goal aimed to get more of the community involved and then also to enhance the side streets and to try to bring them in to be a part of this," Berry added Together the city and its small businesses thrive on the Christmas spirit the Chute brings to the area Sapulpa saw hundreds of thousands of visitors "A lot of people have not ever been to Sapulpa," Berry continued saying That is why each time the committee steps up its game never loses sight of what makes the Chute special "No one has ever put it on a street before and I think that is the magic behind the Christmas Chute," said Berry The Chute will light up for the first time this season around 6 p.m For more information, click here Alyssa joined the News On 6 team as a multimedia journalist in January 2023 Alyssa anchored 13 NEWS This Morning and told Northeast Kansans stories as a reporter for WIBW-TV she won several Kansas Association of Broadcasters awards for her anchor and reporter work I do not even know the kind of number to put on that,\" said Will Berry and then also to enhance the side streets and to try to bring them in to be a part of this,\" Berry added \"A lot of people have not ever been to Sapulpa,\" Berry continued saying \"No one has ever put it on a street before and I think that is the magic behind the Christmas Chute,\" said Berry For more information, click here. Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox! Some Sapulpa parents are worried after their students started smelling odors of gas at school on Wednesday. "Carbon monoxide, the school going up in flames, a lot of things are going through my mind," said parent Chelsea Tarwater. The district sent all high school and junior high students to a different building and moved classes online. Sapulpa school leaders say there was a gas leak last week on campus and those odors popped up again when the furnaces were turned on for Wednesday. A parent who spoke to News On 6 said it's been a headache to work around these issues since they've been happening a lot lately. The end of the school day came early for students at Sapulpa High and Junior High. School leaders say students started smelling gas in a classroom, which prompted them to evacuate. Students were moved to the basketball arena, where many parents came to get their kids early. "I mean, I would drop everything for my kid, it's just hard to do when you have appointments and things scheduled out," Tarwater said. She said the school has been dealing with gas odors over the last several days. "Me and my husband were like why are they even going to school today, it's been an ongoing issue, we got messages on Friday and then messages yesterday," she said. The district says there was a gas leak last week caused by the construction of the new high school. "There was still that residual smell and people were concerned about that, some parents were concerned about that and got text messages from their students," said Heather Browne with Sapulpa Schools. School leaders say absences will not be counted towards the students who left early. They're looking forward to the new school being finished in hopes of issues like this coming to an end. "This high school is so old, those furnaces are old, when you turn on old furnaces in an old house or an old school like this one, issues are bound to occur," Browne said. Parents told News On 6 they are considering keeping their kids home for good until the smell of gas around campus no longer causes a stink. The district says classes for high school and junior high students will also be online Thursday and Friday. Sapulpa Schools sent the following statement: Oklahoma Natural Gas says anyone who smells gas should get out of the area and call for help. A native Oklahoman and Emmy-award-winning reporter, Day grew up in Owasso and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. He covers breaking news, local education, crime and community development. Day joined News On 6 in 2020. \"Carbon monoxide, the school going up in flames, a lot of things are going through my mind,\" said parent Chelsea Tarwater. \"I mean, I would drop everything for my kid, it's just hard to do when you have appointments and things scheduled out,\" Tarwater said. \"Me and my husband were like why are they even going to school today, it's been an ongoing issue, we got messages on Friday and then messages yesterday,\" she said. \"There was still that residual smell and people were concerned about that, some parents were concerned about that and got text messages from their students,\" said Heather Browne with Sapulpa Schools. \"This high school is so old, those furnaces are old, when you turn on old furnaces in an old house or an old school like this one, issues are bound to occur,\" Browne said. READ MORESapulpa instructor arrested in connection to tip regarding child sexual abuse materialby Alexandra Sharfman (KTUL) — An instructor at Central Technology Center in Sapulpa was arrested in connection to a cybertip regarding child sexual abuse material is also a former law enforcement officer in Creek County the Sapulpa Police Department requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's (OSBI) help regarding the cybertip Agents reviewed online files and found several explicit images the OSBI Internet Crimes Against Children Unit (ICAC) along with the Sapulpa and Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police Department served a search warrant at Matthias' home and workplace Officials recovered digital devices during the search Based on the information and evidence they obtained Matthais was arrested and booked into the Creek County Jail Charges are still pending and the investigation is ongoing SIGN UP FOR THE CHANNEL 8 NEWSLETTER — Sapulpa Public Schools District leaders broke ground on the new high school building “It’s incredible,” Superintendent Rob Armstrong said “It’s the opportunities that school districts provide their kids and we’re excited to build what will be one of the finest high schools in the state of Oklahoma.” Armstrong said this project is a step in the right direction as the current building is showing its age and falling behind technologically generations of SHS students will enjoy all the new bells and whistles “I’m a little bit sad I won’t get to experience it myself,” SHS senior Bryce Miller said he admired the building generations of Chieftains will soon call home.“A lot of excitement comes to mind and it’s exciting to think of him and maybe my future kids getting to experience it,” Miller said His wife graduated from and worked for the school He sent both of his sons through this building While the baseball and softball complexes are near completion Woods will need to eat about 1,100 lunches before the new high school opens Construction crews expect work to last three years Sapulpa police say Flock cameras helped them capture a wanted murder suspect over the weekend Kala Matney was arrested on a murder warrant and booked into the Creek County Jail after being stopped around 1 p.m According to an arrest report from the Creek County Sheriff's Office Matney is facing allegations of child neglect in connection with the death of her newborn son The report states that Matney gave birth to her son in November of 2022 at a hospital in Sapulpa and within hours of his birth Casen was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) According to investigators Casen tested positive for methamphetamine at birth and died the following day An investigation was launched by the Creek County Sheriff's Office and authorities discovered that Matney had a history of substance abuse and child neglect Investigators found that Matney had already lost custody of eight other children due to her drug use with some placed with their biological fathers and others adopted after her parental rights were terminated Matney admitted to using methamphetamine multiple times during her pregnancy Investigators also uncovered messages from her Facebook account showing that she had purchased methamphetamine during her pregnancy authorities submitted a request for a warrant charging Matney with child neglect and unlawful use of a communication facility The charges stem from her decision to use methamphetamine throughout her pregnancy and use social media to facilitate the purchase of illegal substances This case is currently under investigation — For the 25,000 people who live in Sapulpa the water bill is going up starting this spring 2 News Oklahoma’s Naomi Keitt listened to people in town about the price hike and sat down with city leaders to learn why they’re raising rates and he decided he wanted to come back home so this is where we’re at,” said Kimberly Taylor Kimberly Taylor and her husband have lived in Sapulpa for the last year She says it’s a community that’s getting a bit more expensive every year “I understand everything is going up,” said Taylor It’s something every week you hear about something going up and I can’t imagine how people can continue to live like this Sapulpa City Councilors approved the increase on Jan 6 Read the list of Sapulpa utility rates here homeowners are paying about $56.57 right now that same home would pay about $62.53 a month “You’re in a neighborhood where most of us are retirees and I can’t imagine us having to pay more out of our [pocket]…we just make a regular income every month,” said Taylor 2 News interviewed the city’s finance director to learn why they approved these rate hikes “We’re not just going up on rates just to go up on rates,” said Joe Dunham Sapulpa Finance Director Joe Dunham says the extra money from the hikes They plan to buy generators for the water and wastewater treatment plants “If power goes out to the city as a whole our water and sewer plants go down,” said Dunham “If that happens that triggers a whole lot of other things that would be detrimental for the citizens.” He says they’ve gotten notices of violation for not having generators from the DEQ They’re also planning for upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant “There’s some issues with some of our aerators and some of our diffusers and things like that that will allow us to handle the waste that comes into the facility in an appropriate manner,” said Dunham He says they’re also planning sewer work across the city “Not only are we taking care of problems that we have today,” said Dunham.“We’re planning for the future for our citizens.” Only water and sewer are going up starting March 1 Court documents show the largest employer in Sapulpa could be facing financial trouble Paragon Industries is a pipe manufacturer in Sapulpa with locations in Texas and Muskogee at least two lawsuits have been filed against Paragon for more than $30 million each Those lawsuits were filed by steel manufacturer Nucor in Arkansas and Calvert Both lawsuits say Paragon bought materials from them but never paid for them Shortly after the Nucor and Calvert lawsuits others were filed against owner Two friends of Wachob's in Florida accuse him of creating an investment scheme where they gave him more than $30 million so he could buy steel at a lower cost and then sell it for more they say they never got any money from him 1st by friends of Wachob's say they invested $11 million into a property in Missouri The lawsuit says those investors never saw any returns That lawsuit also accuses Wachob of using the investment money to fund his lavish lifestyle The lawsuit states Wachob has two helicopters This all comes as WARN letters were sent to some employees at Paragon on Oct telling them to prepare for possible layoffs between Dec "business has slowed down and Paragon has had to reduce its operations." it goes on to say "Any layoffs are expected to be permanent... We are continuing to work hard to obtain contracts and are in the process of determining our business and workforce needs for the future with the intention to lay off as few people as possible." \"business has slowed down and Paragon has had to reduce its operations.\" it goes on to say \"Any layoffs are expected to be permanent... with the intention to lay off as few people as possible.\" A 45-minute standoff on Highway 97 near Sapulpa ended Monday morning with the arrest of Alan Vanderwagen The incident temporarily shut down both highway directions drawing significant law enforcement presence and public attention Marshals attempted to arrest Vanderwagen during a traffic stop south of Prattville prompting a standoff that lasted nearly an hour law enforcement closed Highway 97 in both directions during the confrontation With assistance from Sapulpa Police and the Creek County Sheriff’s Office the Marshals surrounded the vehicle and negotiated Vanderwagen’s surrender Vanderwagen was wanted on a Creek County warrant for grand larceny and possession of stolen property Vanderwagen is accused of stealing an $85,000 tiny home in November Investigators revealed that the theft was captured on a neighbor's surveillance camera which showed three individuals breaking into the victim's property by cutting a lock on a gate The footage allegedly depicts the group towing the tiny home off the property Reagan Ledbetter joined News On 6 in June 2018 as a multimedia journalist Reagan most recently was a student at the University of Oklahoma where he received his degree in Broadcast Journalism