McAlester man charged with assault of officer

Mar. 28—A McAlester man was arrested and charged this week after police said he fought an officer and attempted to take the officer's service weapon.

Court records show, 35, was charged Wednesday with assault and battery on a police officer, knowingly receiving or concealing stolen property, and obstructing an officer.

Henry was being held Thursday in the Pittsburg County Jail on a $7,500 bond, according to jail records.

A probable cause affidavit prepared by McAlester Police Officer Colby Barnett states he was dispatched Monday to a hotel on South George Nigh Expressway for a missing cell phone.

The owner of the cell phone told Barnett she received notifications from her watch and that the watch connected with the cell phone on the fourth floor of the hotel, the affidavit states.

While on the fourth floor, Barnett wrote he watched a man walk out of a room towards the elevator and when the woman pressed the "locate my phone" button on the watch, the phone went off with the notification coming from the man waiting for the elevator, the report states.

Barnett wrote in his report he approached the man, identified as Henry, and told Henry to give him the phone and to put his hands behind his back.

"Henry immediately tensed up and would not put his hand behind his back," Barnett wrote. "Henry spun into me, and I took him to the ground. When we were on the ground, Wesley grabbed a hold of my service weapon and would not let go after several commands to do so."

According to the affidavit, a man came out with a firearm and pointed it at Henry, who let go of Barnett's weapon. Barnett wrote he deployed his taser toward Henry, but it did not make a good connection as one cartridge did not fire.

"I then noticed that my walkie had turned to the wrong channel during the fight," Barnett wrote in his report. "I fixed my radio and told dispatch that I need help."

The report states Henry fled and ran down the stairs and out a side door before leaving in a truck that was later found wrecked in the county in the Krebs Lake Road area.

Henry was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon in McAlester. In audio obtained through Broadcastify, Henry called and told dispatchers he was going to self-surrender at the police station in McAlester.

A vehicle that matched the description given to dispatchers was later spotted near the police station with Henry being taken into custody near the intersection of North 2nd Street and East Washington Avenue.