Bixby pursuit assessed by TPD

By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer - 11/7/2009


Tulsa police are investigating the Bixby Police Department's use of deadly force Oct. 27 during a rush-hour pursuit into south Tulsa to apprehend a man fleeing a traffic stop.

Two vehicles were struck, and the chase ended after police officers fired several shots to disable the fleeing pickup.

"Based on what they knew at the time, I'm not sure a hot pursuit in rush-hour traffic was worth it," said Phil Davis, whose car was clipped by the fleeing suspect at 71st Street and Sheridan Road.

Davis wasn't injured, but his Lincoln Town Car didn't fare so well.

"I was in a big enough car I was able to stop him," he said. "Luckily, I was in that big old boat and not a Smart Car. One second more into the intersection, and he would have been in my lap."

Bixby Police Officer Richard Stewart pulled over Damon Caldwell, 35, about 8 a.m. Oct. 27 near 111th Street and Memorial Drive in Bixby because he didn't see a tag on the pickup's bumper.

As Stewart approached the truck, he saw a paper tag in the tinted back window but couldn't make out the number, records show.

Caldwell sped off, driving erratically through residential and business areas and at times veering into oncoming traffic, records show.

Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham said Tulsa police assisted Bixby officers at the end of the pursuit but did not fire any shots.

Tulsa detectives are investigating the incident as they do any time deadly force is used, he said.

Willingham said there must be a continuing threat to warrant the use of deadly force per Tulsa Police Department policy and that it ultimately will be up to the district attorney to determine whether the policy was followed.

He said he understands that Bixby's policy on pursuits and deadly force is "a little different" from Tulsa's.

Bixby Police Chief Ike Shirley has said his department's pursuit policy considers the number of vehicles involved, traffic, weather, school zones, road conditions and other factors.

Shirley said multiple commands were given to Caldwell to stop before Stewart and Capt. James Kite opened fire based on what they felt was a continuing threat.

Davis' recollection is different.

"They came out of their cars with their guns pulled," he said.

"I thought I heard four to five pistol shots. One of the key questions one of the investigators asked me was if any orders were given to the suspect, and I heard none."

Davis said his real concern was the number of shots fired in an area where several businesses are located.

"I was just concerned one of the shots might go beyond his car," he said.

Willingham said shell casings indicated that about a half-dozen shots were fired, although it might have looked like more because there was so much debris in the street.

Caldwell has been charged with eluding police, leaving the scene of two accidents, driving with a suspended license, failing to carry insurance and displaying an altered tag.

Records show that he has served prison sentences for assaulting a police officer in 1992 and assaulting a detention officer in 1997.

Caldwell was apprehended without incident in a backyard after he allegedly fled on foot.

His passenger cooperated with police and was not charged.



Susan Hylton 581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/6/2009 8:30:05 PM)
Corvetteguy, now come on. This was the most excitment the Bixby police have had in years. The officer had a chance to finally shoot his weapon and your spoiling his fun. And so might the DA depending on the TPD police report.

Geo, (11/6/2009 8:02:12 PM)
Good for them......too bad they didn't hit the idiot. How many people could have been severely injured or killed while he was eluding them at high speeds?

Geo, (11/6/2009 8:26:49 PM)
So you obviously were there to verify the shooting technique as well as to judge how to handle a "tense situation". Sounds like someone else who got caught breaking the law in Bixby and couldn't beg their way out of it.

ranay22, Ponca City (11/7/2009 11:45:05 AM)
"His passenger cooperated with police and was not charged." I wonder about that passenger. The passenger is cooperating, I bet, after getting fired at. There should have been a better technique used when someone is also in the running vehicle. I would be furious at the driver and also at the Bixby Police Department for putting my life in danger. Not just the driver but the idiot police officers shooting at the vehicle. It states that the passenger was not charged, meaning this person was completely innocent of any wrong doing except being in bad company. Man that infuriates me just thinking about the possibility of an innocent person getting hurt in that kind of a situation!

ranay22, Ponca City (11/7/2009 6:03:19 PM)
You know, I just love people who look down from their soap box... For your information Sarge776, I have been involved in a police pursuit... I KNOW!! I got my patrol vehicle rammed by the fleeing suspect when he u-turned! I know what I would do and that would not run and let someone else take the bullet. I just expressed how I would feel if I was the passenger in something like this. Not once did I mention that I would sue or take matters into my own hands with the police. But I could feel angry if I were in that person's shoes. AND I WOULD BE ANGRY! I wonder why they could not try other means of stopping this vehicle. There are other options.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/6/2009 7:31:53 PM)
BIXBY police officers should go to only having one bullet kept in a buttoned shirt pocket.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/6/2009 10:05:29 PM)
About 15 to 20 years ago Bixby had a big cop with the last name of Byrd, or something like that. I ran into that guy one day while he was directing traffic around an emergency scene. He was a real "head-case", on a "important ego" trip. I know Bixby doesn't have tremendous financial resources, but they have got to find a way to pay enough to get some top-flight Police Officers. That job is way too important to hire the rejects that can't get hired in Tulsa.

DaBirdman, (11/7/2009 10:31:36 AM)
"about half a dozen shots fired"? I know that if I had ten rounds in my glock and fired several times I could 'see' how many were left and know EXACTLY how many I fired!

007, Tulsa (11/6/2009 7:02:52 PM)
all the TPD rejects go to bixby.....

ghost riders, (11/8/2009 8:14:57 AM)
The original article stated that the chase started in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 111th and Memorial. This is in Tulsa city limits not Bixby.

Sarge776, Tulsa (11/7/2009 2:39:45 PM)
You gotta love all these arm chair quarterbacks and police experts giving their opinion about something they not only know nothing about, but don't have a clue about police work, much less pursuits and or what they would do in the same scenerio, except maybe run for cover and let someone else take the bullet for them.

mayor_maynot, Tulsa (11/8/2009 4:54:23 AM)
Trigger happy idiots.

uniondad, (11/6/2009 5:28:31 PM)
Bixby, leave the police work to real law enforcement (TPD).

uniondad, (11/6/2009 8:05:03 PM)
Good for them? Okay, you can be the first one to take the badly fired from a cop who doesn't know how to handle tense situations .40 cal round then! K?

uniondad, (11/6/2009 8:32:48 PM)
Nope, no reason to go to Bixby. Can you really not see how dumb it is to fire in this scenerio in SOUTH TULSA TRAFFIC!!!! Like I said before leave the police work to the real cops (TPD). Maybe these other guys will shoot the cow when the get a cattle in the road call.

Whirled Peas, (11/7/2009 10:49:26 AM)
The Bixby officer would do better as gunfight performers at the Allen Ranch. "Shooting out the tires"? Really, cowboy.

Whirled Peas, (11/7/2009 12:59:43 PM)
ranay22 wrote: "I would be furious at the driver and also at the Bixby Police Department for putting my life in danger. Not just the driver but the idiot police officers shooting at the vehicle. It states that the passenger was not charged, meaning this person was completely innocent of any wrong doing except being in bad company. Man that infuriates me just thinking about the possibility of an innocent person getting hurt in that kind of a situation!" The same situation exists when an officer puts himself in the path of a vehicle to be able to claim he was assaulted. At that point he can open fire at all the occupants of the vehicle, not just the driver. The DA has no problem with that, either.



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