ANTLERS, Okla. – The Pushmataha County Sheriff fired one of his deputies after investigators determined he made up a story about a shootout that led to a multi-county manhunt.
On April 26th, Pushmataha County deputy Jason Day reported being involved in a shooting that led to a pursuit into McCurtain County.
Day said it began when he saw a suspicious looking vehicle parked in the middle of a dirt road in Ringold, Oklahoma.
Day told investigators that when he got out of his patrol unit, two men in that vehicle opened fire on him and that he fired back.
Sheriff BJ Hedgecock says he immediately asked for the OSBI to investigate. It didn’t take long before investigators found out the shootout couldn’t have happened the way Day described it.
“Some of the forensics weren’t adding up the way the deputy had sad it had happened so they questioned the deputy after they had done some more forensics and he admitted he had fabricated the story,” Hedgecock told News 12.
Day had told investigators that the men had shot the driver’s side mirror.
“The OSBI told me that he had admitted that he did shoot his own vehicle,” Hedgecock added.
When asked why he made it up, Day told investigators he felt his work wasn’t being noticed.
“From what I best understand, the deputy felt underappreciated, that he wasn’t appreciated here at the department for the hard work he’s done, so he made the story up,” Hedgecock said.
Hedgecock says Day was the only deputy retained from the previous administration and that he takes full responsibility for Day’s actions.
“Like I’ve always said, I’m 100 percent responsible for the actions of this sheriff’s office and I apologize that I had an employee do that but it was dealt with,” Hedgecock exclaimed.
The OSBI will turn over all findings from their investigation to the District Attorney for any possible criminal charges.
Source: http://www.kxii.com