A gun dealer who is accused of assaulting two Tulsa police officers is disputing their version of an altercation that he said left him with nine stitches and a broken arm.
Jack Morris, 53, was arrested Wednesday on complaints of assaulting the officers, resisting arrest and obstruction.
About 11 a.m., police had surrounded a field owned by Morris at 49th Street and Harvard Avenue while searching for one of two people who reportedly had fled from a stolen vehicle nearby.
A police report says the suspect was believed to have taken shelter in a horse barn in the area.
Morris, who is a weekly contributor to the Tulsa World’s Outdoors page, told the Tulsa World in an interview Thursday that his neighbor had called to let him know that police were on Morris’ property and had startled his horses.
Morris said he drove to the field to try to calm one of the horses. He said he told officers when they stopped him from entering his field that he was “just trying to save his horse.”
An officer stated in Morris’ arrest report: “It was obvious he was upset about his horses but despite numerous commands to stop given by at least 3 officers the suspect continued to try to access the property/barn yelling ‘F— you! They’re my horses.”
The officer said Morris calmed down for a time but then ignored commands and went back to try to unlock the entrance gate, at which point he was told that he was subject to arrest.
“Upon hearing this … (Morris) balled his fists, squared his shoulders and rapidly walked up to (the officer) yelling ‘Take me to jail, motherf——,” the officer’s report states.
Although the arrest report says an officer “shoved him back,” Morris said he never assaulted any of the officers. He said an officer tackled him to the ground and hit him repeatedly.
“The guys that did this to me should surrender their badges,” Morris said.
He told the World that he submitted to officers’ commands after they pepper-sprayed him, but the arrest report states that even while on the ground he continued to resist officers.
Sgt. Shane Tuell, a police spokesman, said an internal use-of-force review is conducted every time a spray, impact weapon or less-lethal option is used, as well as when an officer causes great bodily injury to a person.
Tuell added that citizens may file a complaint during an ongoing internal investigation.
Morris said he felt like he was going to choke in a pool of his blood while police had him on the ground. His arrest report states that officers were able to cuff him only “after strikes to the head and significant effort to wrestle his arms back.”
Morris said he sustained a broken arm and required nine stitches on his face.
One officer was struck in the head by Morris’ head or shoulder during the struggle on the ground, according to the arrest report, with the officer suffering a hematoma over an eye.
Police arrested Morris and, after taking him to a hospital for treatment, booked him into the Tulsa Jail.
He was released on $11,000 bond.
Morris said his primary concern was his 6-year-old horse, who “was running full tilt” through the field and foaming at the chest.
“All I was trying to do was save that horse. … When I got out of jail, when I went back out there, that horse had broken the top rail of the fence in three different places,” Morris said.
He said the arrest threatens his livelihood as a gun seller and hunting guide.
Police have arrested one of the two suspects in connection with the stolen vehicle. Antonio Luna, 20, of Tulsa was taken into custody on a complaint of possession of a stolen vehicle and outstanding traffic fines.
He is in the Tulsa Jail in lieu of $2,650 bond.
Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com