DARRELL WICK

From "The Sapulpa Herald," Monday, August 16, 2004

SAPULPA -- Two police officers are on paid administrative leave while an investigation continues into the death of a local man Saturday night.

Darrell Wick, 25, died in a "freak accident" in which his throat was cut after his head went through a storm door, Capt. Rick Rumsey said. But Wick's family said police pulled Wick through the glass door, which shattered and caused his fatal wound.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is continuing to interview witnesses and police officers, spokeswoman Jessica Brown said. She said the probe could take a month because of other state investigations.

Results will be turned over to Creek County District Attorney Max Cook for review, she said.

Rumsey said Sapulpa police called in the OSBI, a standard procedure, and also began an internal investigation of the incident, which started when officers tried to arrest another man for beer theft.

Rumsey said Sgt. Brett Henson and Patrol Officer Mark Swafford were placed on administrative leave.

The state Medical Examiner's Office in Tulsa said Wick's manner of death was homicide, which is not meant to signify a crime, spokesman Randy Saffell said. The cause of death was listed as asphyxiation and exsanguination, the latter meaning loss of blood, due to sharp force injuries to the neck, Saffell said.

Rumsey said at a news conference Monday that an initial investigation showed that no police force caused Wick's head to go through the storm door at his Sapulpa home.

But Linda Wick, the victim's mother, screamed, "They killed my son! They killed my baby!" after the press conference in the City Commission meeting room.

Linda Wick said her son called her and said police were trying to get him to come out of his house but that he had refused. Linda Wick, of Kellyville, said she told him to stay inside. When she arrived at her son's home, she saw police hosing blood off the porch, she said.

Rumsey said the hosing was not an attempt to hide anything but only an effort to keep the blood from unsettling Wick's family. The action occurred before officers learned that Wick had died, Rumsey said.

He said the incident began about 6:45 p.m. Saturday when officers responded to a beer theft from a convenience store.

Rumsey identified the suspect as Brian Lloyde Hurt, 21, whom police tracked to 808 N. Hodge St., where Wick lived.

While officers were arresting Hurt, Wick came out of the house, attempting to interfere with the officers, Rumsey said.

Wick disregarded several orders to stop before officers moved to arrest him, Rumsey said. Wick struggled with police on the front porch before the fight moved inside, he said.

"He broke free and ran for the door," Rumsey said.

Wick hit the storm door with his head, breaking the glass and cutting his throat.

"It was an accident; a freak accident," Rumsey said.

A police paramedic started first aid while awaiting an ambulance, Rumsey said. Wick was taken to St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, where he was pronounced dead, Rumsey said.

He said five officers were dispatched to Wick's home when police recognized the address. Wick has been arrested repeatedly for resisting arrest, and officers were concerned, he said.

"That's not uncommon" to send out extra officers "when responding to a residence of someone with numerous arrests," he said.

Creek County District Court records show drug and assult convictions in 2003 for Wick, which resulted in a five-year suspended sentence. He also had two misdemeanor convictions for public intoxicaiton and driving under the influence of alcohol, records show.

Ralph Marler 581-8480
[email protected]

Elizabeth Shea Ford, who was an eyewitness
to the death of her boyfriend Darrell Wick, 25,
issued her statement Monday. Ford said she was
interviewed by the Oklahoma State Bureau of
Investigation and is now ready to talk to the media.
BOB SHERRILL

GIRLFRIEND'S STATEMENT DIFFERES FROM POLICE ACCOUNT
From "The Sapulpa Herald," Tuesday, August 17, 2004
BY BOB SHERRILL, Herald Staff Writer

A girlfriend who witnessed her boyfriend's death in an altercation with Sapulpa police this past weekend claims the police account does not fit what she saw.

Elizabeth Shea Ford, 26, of Sapulpa, said a Sapulpa officer pushed his hand through a metal screen of a closed storm door and grabbed Darrell Wick, 25.

In her report, Ford said Wick was standing inside the house when SPD Patrolman Mark Swafford pushed his hand through the screen and grabbed Wick.

Ford said the officer then pulled Wick's head into the glass portion of the storm door and his neck was cut when the glass shattered.

But, police accounts of the altercation that led to the death of Wick, 25, at 808 N. Hodge, are far different than Ford's statement.

The account by Sapulpa police indicated Wick was on the porch at one point before he attempted to move back inside the residence and a struggle ensued between the suspect and SPD Sgt. Brett Henson and not Swafford.

During the struggle, police accounts indicated that Wick's head accidentally struck the glass and shattered chards cut a vein and his windpipe.

Wick was pronounced dead Saturday night at St. John Sapulpa and preliminary autopsy reports from the State Medical Examiner in Tulsa issued a report Monday afternoon stating Wick's throat had been cut and he died of asphyxiation and loss of blood.

However, the medical examiner's office also said it may take months before a toxicology report will be available.

In her written statement Ford said Wick was lying on the porch and police told her to stay inside.

Ford said she told Wick she loved him and he responded with, "I love you, too and call mom."

She said shortly after that, Wick became unconscious.

Ford said her account of events last Saturday is a part of a statement she gave an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Monday.

"Now that I have been interviewed by the OSBI, I want to tell my story," Ford said.

Both police and Ford have said that Wick was cut during a struggle with police and a chard of glass cut a major artery in the victim's neck.

Both agree that Sapulpa Patrolman Jim Madden tried desperately to save Wick's life.

"I am prepared to take a polygraph to show that I am teling the truth," Ford said.

Ford said Saturday night before Wick's death, Swafford asked her to step outside. She said she went on the porch and closed the door behind her.

Ford said the officer asked her if she was OK, and she told Swafford that she was all right.

She said she walked back into the house and shut the door. She said then Darrell opened the wooden door and yelled at Brian Hurt, 18, who was arrested by police for leaving a convenience store without paying for a quantity of beer.

She said that was when Swafford made his move toward Darrell.

It was the stolen beer that originally brought police to the Wick residence.

Hurt allegedly had grabbed a quantity of beer and ran from the convenience store located at the corner of North Brown and East Cobb.

A store clerk followed Hurt and saw him enter the Wick residence and then called police.

Several officers responded including Henson, Swafford, Madden and reserve officer John Cobb. Lt. Terry Russell later responded to the scene.

Hurt surrendered to police and officers were attempting to recover the stolen beer that Ford said Wick had hidden behind a couch.

Both Mike Romine and Capt. Brant Green, chief of detectives, dispute Ford's statement and said they have doubts that she actually saw the struggle.

Ford said it was Henson who washed blood from the porch of the house and police have said it was Russell who washed the porch.

Romine said Russell was not aware that Wick had died.

Green said he had talked with Ford that night and she had a heavy smell of alcohol.

"She told me she was asleep in a bedroom," said Green.

"She told me that she woke up about the time that Wick was cut," he said.

The Sapulpa Police Officers involved in the death of a Sapulpa man have been cleared of any wrongdoing and have returned to active patrols, said Jim Wall, Sapulpa chief of police.

Wall said he made the decision after receiving a letter from Creek County District Attorney Max Cook clearing Sgt. Brett Henson, Patrolman Mark Swafford and Patrolman Jim Madden.

Darrell R. Wick, 25, died from asphyxiation and loss of blood Aug. 14, according to a medical examiner report. His throat was cut by a chard of glass from a storm door.

Police statements issued following the death of Wick indicated officers Henson and Swafford had attempted to arrest Wick, at 808 N. Hodge, when the victim's head came in contact with the glass portion of a storm door.

"The officers acted reasonable and proper and acted within the departmental policy and procedures rules and regulations," Wall said. "Darrell Wick's death was caused by Mr. Wick himself attempting to escape custody and running into the glass storm door.

"By all accounts Mr. Wick's death was an accident," he said.

In Cook's letter to Wall, the district attorney said that it did not appear likely that there will be other evidence which will contradict or substantially alter the evidence received thus far.

"Therefore, it appears at this time the reliable evidence does not reflect that the officers involved took any action of a criminal nature, either intentional, reckless, or negligent regarding the injuries of Mr. Wick" Cook said.

However, Cook said the decision was not necessarily final and the office was prepared to review any additional information that might become available.

Cook said he had met with agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Tuesday and representatives of the Sapulpa Police Department.

He said written reports had not been completed but the information provided had led to his decision to issue the statement clearning the officers.

Police went to the Wick residence after a suspect had stolen a quantity of beer from a local convenience store and a clerk followed him to the residence on North Hodge.

Brian L. Hurt, 21, was arrested for the theft of the beer without incident at the residence.

Police said Wick attempted to interfere with the arrest and was outside the house when officers attempted to arrest him.

Family members have contested the police version of the arrest claiming that Wick had never stepped outside the residence.

Bob Sherrill 224-5185 Ext. 201
[email protected]

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