Pacific County sheriff’s deputies made newsworthy arrests to start out the year.

OCEAN PARK — After being interviewed by the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office regarding multiple burglaries, a woman reportedly found herself being robbed. The incident unfolded on Jan. 7 in Ocean Park and landed a man in the Pacific County Jail.

Multiple deputies were reportedly working on a web of cases when one was contacted by an informant who stated she had been robbed while they were waiting to speak with another subject in connection to the cases.

“Deputy [Cosmo] Cozby returned shortly after with [the woman], and I conducted another interview with [her] in which she outlined the following facts,” Detective Cory Nacnac states in court records.

The woman reportedly went into a residence on 272nd Street in Ocean Park to retrieve items before entering substance treatment. She allegedly walked into the kitchen and was confronted by Matthew K. Whitman, 41.

“Matthew questioned Lisa about why she was with law enforcement earlier,” Nacnac states in court records. “Matthew’s demeaning towards [her] was very cold, and she felt it could easily become aggressive if she said the wrong thing.”

“Matthew was trying to get heroin from [her]. [She] was scared of Matthew and felt as though he may assault her,” Nacnac continued, noting Whitman was listed at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds in state Department of Licensing records.

The woman reportedly retrieved a photo from inside the residence, and as she tried to leave Whitman grabbed her purse from her arm and dumped it on the floor. She reportedly didn’t “fight back” because “he would have hurt me.”

“After dumping [her] purse, Matthew took all her cash, in the form of a single $50 bill, from the ground before stepping away,” Nacnac states. “While [she] was gathering the remainder of her belongings back into her purse, [Danielle L. Stickney] accused [her] of being a ‘snitch,’ and the two got into a verbal altercation before [she] finished gathering her belongings and leaving the residence.”

According to court records, deputies continued to investigate the cases on Jan. 8, including locating key parties to the crimes. Whitman gave an entirely different chain of events for the alleged “robbery.”

“Matthew stated on the night of the incident, [she] had told him that she had heroin, but needed $50 for it,” Nacnac states in court records. “Matthew states he had told Lisa he did not have $50, and due to [the other woman] yelling next to him, he was going to go lay down.”

Whitman alleges the woman is “vindictively trying to set him up.”

Whitman and Stickney were subsequently arrested for separate alleged crimes. Whitman was booked into the county jail at 3:04 a.m. and appeared for a preliminary hearing in the Pacific County Superior Court on Jan. 9.

According to court records, Judge Donald J. Richter set his bail at $50,000, and he was scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 10.