An Oklahoma community is outraged, a 6-year-old boy is traumatized and two police officers are under investigation after officers tackled the boy’s father to the ground and arrested him after he was simply out for a morning walk with his son.
But despite the outrage, the two officers involved have not been placed on administrative leave while an investigation is carried out.
The tragic incident occurred in Watonga just before 6am on July 4, when John Sexton was out on his usual morning walk with his son when he was stopped by two officers from the Watonga Police Department. KOCO News 5 reported..
According to body camera footage obtained by a local ABC affiliate, after one of the officers approached the father and son, he told Saxton, “I thought you were kind of suspicious. You were just wandering around.”
“Is it suspicious to walk around?” Saxton replied incredulously.
“Well, technically not, but it was early in the morning,” the officer countered, “I was walking around here at 5:30 in the morning.”
“Yes, we do,” the father told the officer.
“No you’re not. Let me see your ID,” the officer demanded firmly.
Saxton said he did not have any identification with him because he had left it at home, and things quickly escalated.
The officer, whose name has not been released, grabbed Saxton by his knees, slammed him to the ground and cuffed him behind his back, according to body camera footage.
Next to them, Saxton’s 6-year-old son, who has autism, could be seen crying.
According to the video, the father was placed in the back of a patrol car and asked officers what he was being detained on.
“I don’t know what you were doing. I would call it criminal activity,” the officer responded.
Saxton was ultimately released without charges, but he told KOCO 5 the arrest left permanent scars on his young son.
“My son has been playing a police officer for Halloween for the last two years. He’s always wanted to be a police officer when he grew up, that’s what he said, but now he’s scared of police officers,” Sexton said.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether the arrest and use of force was justified while both officers remained on duty.
As the Blaine County District Attorney launches an investigation, the county sheriff is calling for changes.
Blaine County Sheriff Travis Dougherty has publicly called for the two officers involved in the disturbing arrest to be placed on administrative leave from the Watonga Police Department while the investigation continues.
His office and KOCO 5, which first released the body camera footage, have received hundreds of calls from people troubled by what they saw on the footage.
“We’ve had over 200 calls this weekend and I understand why they feel that way because it’s one of the most painful things to hear that boy scream,” Daughtry said of the 6-year-old boy heard in the video crying.
Daughtry also said one of the officers previously worked for his office and had received complaints from multiple people, including coworkers, which led Daughtry to demote the officer and remove him from interacting with the public.
“The lieutenants under him had lost confidence in him as a leader, so I later demoted him,” Dougherty said. He told a local station.
The former deputy sheriff resigned and eventually took a new job with the Watonga Police Department.
The city of Watonga and its police department declined to answer questions about the July 4 incident.
“As part of our commitment to integrity, we take any allegations seriously and are committed to transparency and accountability in our operations,” city officials said. It said in a statement.
“Until the investigation is complete, we will refrain from making any additional comment in accordance with state personnel law and to preserve the integrity of the process.”
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has reportedly completed its investigation into Sexton’s arrest but has not released the results of its investigation. KOCO 5 reports Tuesday.
