My Life Altering Day

Part 1

Dec 15, 2023

No One Escapes

Every Law Enforcement Officer will have this day at some point in their career. This isn’t something that you will be able to escape. It’s different for everyone, meaning it doesn’t always have to be so extreme that a life is taken or lost for you to become affected by the job you have been called to do. This isn’t your everyday job, where you get up every day and go to the office and type reports, fix cars at a dealership, or be a sales representative at some retail company. This job requires a vest you throw over your chest that will stop pistol rounds from killing you. This job requires you to make split-second decisions to save or take a life. Either way, the decision could be life-altering. There aren’t second chances or a redo. Law enforcement doesn’t have the luxury of preparing for every detail of every call before we make a decision. Women and men in law enforcement must make that decision immediately and then allow millions of Americans to form opinions about what they have to do. As I said earlier, law enforcement doesn’t need a life-altering critical incident for this job to be too much. Let me tell you my story about the day that changed everything.

April 19th

April 19th, 2012, was not a typical day for me. It was a Thursday; my standard shift for that day was a hoot shift. My hoot shift was 0000 hours to 0800 hours, but as I mentioned, this day was not my typical shift. I worked for the Choctaw Nation Tribal Police, known today as Choctaw Nation Light Horse Police at the time, and a part of this department's employment requirements was to complete an annual PT test. My assigned area for Choctaw Nation was Choctaw County and Pushmataha County. Headquarters was located in Durant, OK, which was approximately 45 min away. So, this morning, I left my house and headed to Durant to complete my annual PT test. Once completed, a few Officers and I went to a local restaurant and ate lunch before heading home. I got home a little after 2 p.m. and returned 10-7, off duty. I knew I had only completed around 6 hours of my 8-hour shift, so I decided to return to work for a few more hours. If I had only known what would occur over one decision.

The day and time were April 19th, 2012; I got ready before 8 pm and went 10-8 (In Service) through my dispatch. I had sent a text message to Deputy Brian Hayden, who I knew was on duty then, to see if he wanted to grab some dinner. At that time, Brian had called me and told me that he couldn't, that he had to go by the jail and get statements for Jody (his partner) and take them to his location. He told me we could go when he got back to town. Brian then asked me if I would run to the jail, copy 10 witness statements, and have them ready for him, which I was fine helping. I got to the jail and ran the copies; when I had them done, Brian had pulled into the jail's sally port. I ran them out and gave them to him, and he left. I walked back into the jail, down the hallway, and into the local dispatch office, where I saw Bennie (dispatcher) on the phone. It was at that time Bennie asked if I could go help Jody. I asked Bennie what was happening, and he advised me that Jody had about 10 people out there. One person had been shot, and more were threatening to get their guns and return to handle the situation. I asked Bennie if he (Jody) was afraid of losing control. Bennie looked at me and told me Jody was losing control. As an officer who had worked in rural counties and domestics alone, you know what that feeling is like. Jody was in potential danger. I left dispatch and headed toward Jody.

The Faster Unit

I will paint the picture as best I can. My patrol unit was a 2008 Crown Victoria. The vehicle had several different strobe lights mounted, mirror strobes, and headlamp wigwags. As I left Hugo, I activated all my emergency lights and sirens, heading west on Highway 70. I radioed to let Brian know I would catch up. Brian’s patrol vehicle was a 2010 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab Truck. I knew my vehicle was faster, and I knew with the distance to where Jody was that I would catch up to him. From Hugo traveling to Jody’s location, I knew the route was to Unger Rd and turn back south. I was familiar with that because I was a Choctaw County Deputy before switching to Choctaw Nation. Unger Road is approximately 4 miles east of Boswell, OK. While responding, I first saw Brian’s emergency lights a little after Soper, OK. Once I made the curve around Muddy Boggy Bridge, I saw Brian hit his brakes and pull to the right shoulder. This move wasn’t uncommon for us to do when a faster unit got behind us. In the case of an emergency, we want the quicker unit to get to the scene as soon as possible. I thought Brain was doing this, so I slowed down and took the center of the highway to make the pass.

POINT OF IMPACT

Imagine being on the most violent and deadly roller coaster, and that's what the ride felt like. When I took the highway's center, I started to speed up. It was a two-lane highway, and the road was straight; the weather was good and dry. As I approached Brian's patrol unit, out of nowhere, Brian made what looked like an attempt to U-turn. It was too late for this; I had nowhere to go. All I had time to do was hit my brakes and scream oh shit!! The front of my patrol unit struck the driver's side of his patrol unit. I remember grabbing my steering wheel and waiting to die. I didn't think I'd ever see my kids again. You wouldn't believe in such a small amount of time; you would have time to think of the people that matter, but trust me, you do! My patrol unit came to rest on the south side of Highway 70.

911

I was dazed and incoherent, but I was alive. I started to check myself for bleeds or any significant pain that I could feel outside of my shock. At some point, I called 911 to the same dispatcher, Bennie, who had just sent me to help another deputy, to ask for help for myself. I attempted to push open my driver's door, but it was jammed, and I couldn't get out of my patrol vehicle. I looked up, and my engine bay was on fire. My car was on fire, and I was trapped. I started to accept my faith. I grabbed my phone to attempt to call my ex-wife to say goodbye to my kids when a good Samaritan began to beat on my window to see if I was alive. I shook my head yes and told him I couldn't get out.

Whoever this man and woman were, I'm genuinely thankful and owe them everything. They pulled my door open and pulled me away from my patrol unit. The car was engulfed in flames within minutes of being pulled out of my patrol unit. I was minutes away from being a part of that fire.

EF5

The point of impact was the actual beginning of my life change. The point of impact, in my opinion, was similar to what our soldiers see and feel when they hit an IED in Iraq or Afghanistan. I never lost consciousness and will never forget what I saw and heard. The sound was like hearing what I would imagine as a bomb going off. The sound of Metal crunching all around, debris flying like an F5 tornado. I saw what I thought was my windshield shatter all around me before closing my eyes.