‘He can kill us’: OKC police officer arrested for allegedly strangling teen son, has past domestic violence accusations

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An Oklahoma City police officer has been arrested again, but this time on allegations of child abuse.

Sergeant Kristopher Gellenbeck has been with the Oklahoma City Police Department for 10 years. He was part of the patrol unit covering the Hefner division.

Gellenbeck was arrested Monday for:

• Child Abuse

• Domestic Assault and Battery in the Presence of a Child

• Interfering with an Emergency Telephone Call

He turned himself in at the Oklahoma County Detention Center where he was subsequently booked on the above listed complaints.

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OKC Police Captain Valerie Littlejohn told KFOR officers were dispatched to the 8300 block of North Rockwell on Sunday. The call was in reference to a domestic dispute.

“During this dispute, the officer, who is Kristopher Gellenbeck, was in a dispute with an adult female. During this time, a teenage juvenile intervened in this dispute. Sergeant Gellenbeck physically assaulted this juvenile. That juvenile was able to fight him off. During this attack, the female tried to call 911. During that attempt to call 911, Sergeant Gellenbeck tried to get the phone from her, causing a minor injury,” stated Captain Littlejohn.

According to a petition for an emergency protective order filed Monday, Gellenbeck’s ex-wife said they were exchanging their three children, ages 8-15, when he became aggressive.

She claims Gellenbeck began yelling at her and asking, “Are you going to respond to me?”

He allegedly pushed their oldest son out of the way to get to her.

Their 15-year-old son reportedly grabbed Gellenbeck by the shirt in an effort to pull him away from his mother.

“Shortly after, Kristopher strangled [their oldest son]. While he was strangling [their oldest son], I was dialing 911 saying, ‘I’m about to call the police,'” Gellenbeck’s ex-wife wrote in a request for an emergency protective order.

She said Gellenbeck eventually stopped strangling their son and ran towards her, grabbing her phone and “smashing” both of her hands against the window.

Their two younger children were reportedly sitting in the car, saying, “Dad, stop” while crying.

“I never felt safe being around Kristopher, but I tried to do the correct thing and allow him to still see his children. Co-parenting has put myself in risk due to how dangerous Kristopher is towards me. My children have told me numerous times they do not want to go over to his house because they are afraid of him and that he is mean. I am afraid for my [family’s] lives due to how dangerous Kristopher is. Kristopher does have access to any firearms, and I truly believe that if he gets close to use again, he can kill us,” Gellenbeck’s ex-wife wrote to a judge Monday.

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Gellenbeck has previously been arrested for crimes of domestic violence.

In 2021, he was arrested on charges of:

• Kidnapping

• Domestic Assault and Battery

• Interference with an Emergency Telephone Call

Court records claim Gellenbeck’s ex-wife received a notification showing her security camera system at her home had been deactivated.

She was able to pull up footage and found Gellenbeck inside her home and appeared to have taken the security cameras down, according to court documents.

Gellenbeck and his ex-wife have been divorced since August 2021 and have since lived in separate homes.

His ex-wife went to her home to confront Gellenbeck and noticed he was collecting the security cameras in a basket.

She threatened to call 911, but Gellenbeck allegedly told her she wasn’t and proceeded to grab her by the outside of her arms and lift her off the ground.

“This resulted in visible injuries to both of [Gellenbeck’s ex-wife’s] arms,” an OKCPD investigator reported.

Gellenbeck also reportedly left visible injuries on his ex-wife’s left thigh during that incident.

He reportedly grabbed her phone and put it in his pocket to keep her from calling 911.

Court documents claims she tried to leave the home, but Gellenbeck beat her to the door and refused to let her leave.

Gellenbeck’s ex-wife also recalled an incident from 2020 where she attempted to gather some documents from a large safe, but Gellenbeck didn’t want her to get anything out of the safe, so he pushed the safe door shut while his ex-wife still had her arm and upper body inside.

“Kristopher held [his ex-wife] there for 5-10 seconds and told her he would keep smashing her until she stopped,” said court records.

During OKCPD’s investigation in 2021, an investigator located text messages between Gellenbeck and his ex-wife where he was reportedly apologizing for “smashing [his ex-wife] in the safe door.”

Those 2021 charges were ultimately dismissed by the request of the state.

One dismissal document claims “the victim was uncooperative.”

Gellenbeck was charged with a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace.

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Since then, October court filings allege Gellenbeck is verbally and physically abusive towards their three children.

News 4 asked Captain Littlejohn why an officer with allegations of domestic violence and a criminal charge would be allowed to stay on the force.

“Since it was amended to a lesser charge, a misdemeanor [for] disturbing the peace… it didn’t fall under something that he would have been terminated for,” she explained.

Captain Littlejohn said this investigation will be handled by OKCPD.

“We have our domestic violence unit that handles any kind of domestic violence occurring within our city,” stated Captain Littlejohn.

Gellenbeck has been placed on paid administrative leave for the time being.

Although OKCPD was unable to confirm if Gellenbeck has turned over his city-issued gun early Tuesday afternoon, a source told News 4 once an Oklahoma City police officer is placed on paid administrative leave, that individual is forced to turn over their gun and badge.

“The message we want to send is regardless of who the abuser is, as a victim, we want you to report that. It is always important for a victim to be able to report any kind of domestic violence, because that way we can start investigating it and hopefully help in the instance to where it doesn’t progress to something worse. Obviously, domestic situations can be very volatile, so any time you are in that position, regardless of who the abuser is, if it’s an officer or anyone else, they are able to come forward and report whatever is going on,” stated Captain Littlejohn.

During the 2021 divorce, Gellenbeck’s ex-wife requested sole custody of their three kids, but Oklahoma County Judge Barry Hafar denied her request.

Gellenbeck was given Tuesday through Thursday overnight visitation rights. His ex-wife was granted primary custody and allowed to keep her children Friday through Monday overnight.

His ex-wife’s emergency protective order has been granted for now, meaning visitation rights have been suspended for Gellenbeck. He is also not allowed to make any sort of contact with her for the time being.

Gellenbeck is expected in court for a hearing on the emergency protective order December 23 at 1:30 p.m.

Gellenbeck is no longer an inmate at the Oklahoma County Detention Center as of Tuesday afternoon.

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