Arrest Warrant Issued For Ex-Luther Police Chief After Embezzlement Charges

An arrest warrant was issued this week for a former City of Luther police chief.

Luther city officials responded to new embezzlement charges that stem from an investigation involving 35-year-old Tony Walker. Oklahoma County prosecutors recently filed the charges.

“In all honesty, we’re not happy about that,” Luther Mayor Jenni White said. “It’s a sad state of affairs.”

White and current police Chief Johnny Leafty said the troubles started last year when the city noticed discrepancies in Walker’s time cards. He resigned during an internal investigation.

”Once he resigned,” Leafty said. “We were transitioning into a new administration, doing cleanup, preparing for the move over here and that’s when the ticket was discovered.”

Leafty said the citation was found in the back of Walker’s desk. Walker allegedly removed the citation from the city’s system and took a $310 cash payment from the driver.

”The policy is we do allow cash bond,” said Leafty. “But there are procedures that have to be followed and those weren’t followed.”

Oklahoma County investigators questioned Walker about the money.

According to court documents, Walker told them “he remembered the traffic stop and writing the person a citation,” but when asked what he did with the money, “Walker stated he didn’t know.”

Luther police also discovered two guns were missing from the evidence room. Walker turned one of the guns over to county investigators and told them it was given to him by a former Luther police chief.

The city’s mayor said criminal behavior will not be tolerated by any city employee.

“We’re not going to put up with anything,” said White. “If we find something that’s wrong, we’re going to immediately take care of it.”

City of Luther employees and officials recently moved into a new city hall building. White said cameras were installed to keep an eye on everyone.

”Just having something as simple as having a camera over somebody’s shoulder is going to detour anything that might happen,” said White.

After Walker resigned from the Luther Police Department, he went to work for the McLoud Police Department. McLoud police said he is no longer employed there.

Walker has not been arrested.