Payne County assistant DA charged with felony
Payne County’s first assistant district attorney has been charged with a felony, accused of stealing a $30 set of vehicle jack stands from his ex-wife’s Edmond home.
Kevin Dale Etherington, 47, of Stillwater, was charged March 2 in Oklahoma County District Court with larceny from a house. He was jailed Wednesday morning and released shortly after.
“This charge was the result of me reclaiming property that was rightfully my own,” Etherington said in a news release. “This is a property dispute that has arisen from a divorce and should have been handled as such.”
In another news release, Payne County District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas said, “Etherington will continue to serve the citizens of our counties as this charge makes its way through the criminal justice system, and I will monitor its progress.”
Oklahoma County prosecutors allege Etherington took the pair of jacks on Jan. 4. His exwife, Aaron Etherington, told police he entered her home when she was away, without permission, after he dropped off their 9-year-old daughter.
She later checked the video from home surveillance cameras because things inside felt out of place, police reported in a court affidavit. The video showed Kevin Etherington placing items into his vehicle in the driveway, police reported.
When asked by his ex-wife what was taken, he told her, “I took jack stands,” and offered to bring them back, according to the affidavit. Aaron Etherington told police their divorce was finalized in July and “he had no right to take anything from her home.”
Kevin Etherington said he intends to “fight this accusation to the fullest extent possible.”
“Once the truth comes out, it will be obvious that a civil issue was transformed into a felony charge,” he said in the news release.
Kevin Etherington is a former Oklahoma County assistant district attorney. Aaron Etherington currently is an Oklahoma County assistant district attorney.