A Meeker police officer is on administrative leave and a Meeker driver reportedly is home and recuperating following an incident in the town on Saturday night of Labor Day Weekend.
Meeker Assistant Police Chief Scott Wilson said the names of the officer nor the driver are being released at this time.
Wilson acknowledged the incident has what he termed “exploded on Social Media.”
He reported the investigation of the incident has been turned over to the District 23 Task Force of the District Attorney for review.
Wilson said a Review Board also has been set up for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sep. 14, and that by policy and procedure he will chair that board.
Wilson explained the composition of the Review Board is set out in the policies and procedures of the Meeker Police Department. He will chair the board because although Police Chief Trent Norton normally would, “he is recusing himself since he was on the scene that evening.”
Others who will sit on the board include a police chief from another city or town, a Shawnee police patrol officer, a CLEET defensive tactic instructor and one citizen from the town of Meeker.
“All the board is looking for is did the officer act within our use of force policy or outside that policy. Once the board has made its decision, it’s turned over to the chief for final review and he makes the final decision,” Wilson said.
Wilson stated it all began around 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Sep. 4, “when our dispatcher received a call about a reckless driver on SH 18. Our officer responded to the area and was almost hit head-on by the vehicle. Our officer attempted to make a traffic stop and the vehicle did stop, but as soon as the officer got out of his car, the vehicle drove away westbound on Carl Hubbell (U.S. 62).
“A low speed pursuit began and the vehicle stopped again in front of city hall. As soon as the officer got out of his vehicle a second time, the driver took off again,” Wilson noted.
The assistant chief said the vehicle went southbound on Culver and stopped for the third time, just south of Loy, but the vehicle took off again as the low speed pursuit continued. “He failed to stop at Culver and Green, turning east on Green and continued east failing to stop at Koonce and Green,” Wilson stated.
He said at that point the driver ran partially off the roadway, continuing to the 100 block on Green where he pulled into a driveway. “Once they stopped, the officer approached the driver at gunpoint. The driver refused to exit the vehicle,” Wilson said.
“The officer holstered his pistol, opened the door and extracted the driver from the vehicle. The driver resisted the arrest, trying to push the officer off of him. At that point, the officer used a CLEET approved tactic to subdue him.”
“Once he was in custody, the officer rolled him over to get him on his feet and he noticed he was not breathing. First responders and EMS immediately were contacted and CPR began. The officer and a volunteer auxiliary officer performed CPR for 2 ½ -3 minutes and the suspect began breathing on his own,” Wilson said.
Wilson said first responders and EMS arrived and took him to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Shawnee, where he was treated and released.