Jesse A Brown
(DOC file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a convicted sex offender charged with beating a dog in the Cushing Walmart and punching two women, who reportedly confronted him, court records show.
Jess Alan Beard, 54, who has not been apprehended, could be given a 10-year prison term if convicted of animal cruelty after a prior felony conviction for child sexual abuse. Beard could be given up to 180 days in jail if convicted of punching the women in the chest, court records show.
Beard was reportedly living in Jennings when the three-count charge was filed in August in Payne County District Court; at the time of the alleged incident, he was driving a car registered to a relative in Yale. On Facebook, Beard was listed as being engaged to a woman living on N. Kings Highway in rural Cushing, an affidavit alleged.
Cushing Police Officer Heather Snow wrote in an affidavit that police were sent at 4:27 pm on July 27 to the Cushing Walmart regarding possible assault and battery and dog abuse.
Two women, a mother and daughter, “informed me that a male individual had been calling them names and laid hands on them when they confronted him about beating his dog,” the Cushing officer alleged in her affidavit.
The mother said, “she saw a man pinning a dog to the ground and punching the dog,” who was whimpering, the affidavit alleged. “She followed him and was asking if she could take the dog. (She) advised that she was angry with how the dog was treated and was called a ‘c….’,” the affidavit alleged.
She said, “she became furious when she saw him punch and shove her child,” the affidavit alleged. She said he “made a fist and punched her in the sternum between her breasts,” the affidavit alleged.
She said, “she spoke with a female in the vehicle that the man was getting into and was informed that the dog was her service dog. The other woman advised that she had no idea what was going on and what he had done to her supposed service dog,” the affidavit alleged.
The daughter said, “she saw a man on the ground leaning over and holding a dog down while beating the crap out of it,” before dragging the dog as he was trying to pick it up and head out of the store, the affidavit alleged.
The daughter said, “she went down a different aisle to slow down the man and as he approached, he punched her in the chest and told her ‘get out of my way, b….”” the affidavit alleged. She called 911 and took a photo of the license plate of the car, the affidavit alleged.
After viewing Walmart video footage the next day, the Cushing officer contacted the vehicle’s owner, who said that her relative, Jess Beard, was driving it that day and provided his phone number, the affidavit alleged.
“I was able to make contact with Beard via telephone from the Cushing Police Department that day, and he informed me that he would be back in town on August 1st and would come fill out a statement form for me. Whenever I spoke with Beard, he advised me that he had been living in Jennings, Ok.,” the officer alleged in her affidavit.
“As of Aug. 2, 2023, I have not heard back from Beard,” the Cushing officer wrote in her affidavit.
“In the Walmart video footage, Beard can be seen jumping on the canine and punching the dog with what appears to be a closed fist and then dragging the dog away,” the officer alleged in her affidavit.
According to court records and the state Department of Corrections, Beard was convicted in Tulsa County in 2002 of sexually abusing a minor child in Sand Springs and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Beard served 16 years and seven months before being released in August of 2019, DOC records show.
