The Enid Police Department put out the following press release:
An Enid Police Department officer arrested a transient sex offender Monday evening after the man had been reported being found inside a school last week.
Michael Eugene Steele, 44, was arrested by Officer Neal Storey on a complaint of failure to comply with the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry Act after Storey located him on North Independence.
St. Joseph Catholic School contacted the department after 6 p.m. Friday to report having found Steele inside the school the previous night.
A student inside the school found Steele sleeping beneath a piano with a cover on it and immediately told a janitor. As the student was speaking with the janitor, Steele got out from beneath the piano and ran into a bathroom. Steele had entered the school through an unlocked door.
The janitor and the school’s principal spoke with Steele, who said he was under the piano because people were after him. Steele was then escorted back to his vehicle and he left the school without issue.
The next day, the principal learned Steele was a registered sex offender and contacted police.
Steele was convicted in 2010 in Cleveland County on counts of first-degree rape, rape by instrumentation, lewd molestation/indecent proposals to a child and forcible oral sodomy.
Following the incident being reported, it was immediately investigated by Detective Sgt. Shawn Ramsey, who then sent an alert to the entire police department to be on the lookout for Steele. Steele’s mugshot and a photograph of his vehicle were also distributed to officers within the department.
“Sex offenders who think they can violate their sex offender registration need to be mindful that they are being watched, and will be charged accordingly,” said Investigative Services Division Lt. Bryan Hart. “Such violations are handled swiftly and given the highest degree of attention by all officers of the department.”
