OKC police officer arrested a second time on domestic abuse complaints

An Oklahoma City police officer has been arrested for a second time by his colleagues.

Sgt. Kristopher Gellenbeck, 41, is accused of felony domestic assault and battery by strangulation, misdemeanor domestic assault and battery in the presence of a child and misdemeanor interfering with an emergency telephone call.

On Sunday, police were called to the Target store in the 8300 block of N Rockwell Avenue, where they reviewed video footage made available by store security.

In an affidavit for an arrest warrant, an Oklahoma City police detective wrote that he interviewed Gellenbeck’s ex-wife and their 15-year-old son at the downtown police headquarters.

Gellenbeck’s ex-wife told the detective the scene unfolded during a visitation exchange of the boy and his younger siblings when Gellenbeck allegedly approached her vehicle and yelled at her for not responding to text messages he sent her, according to the affidavit.

She said the officer started choking their 15-year-old son, who was between his mother and father, according to the affidavit.

The son told the detective he punched his father in the nose and his father let go of the chokehold. Gellenbeck’s nose was bleeding, his son said.

Gellenbeck’s ex-wife accused him of then going through her open window and trying to grab her phone. She said her son grabbed Gellenbeck and pulled him away from the vehicle window.

The officer then got into his truck and pulled up to the driver’s side of his ex-wife’s vehicle, according to the affidavit. His ex-wife and family left the scene, according to the affidavit.

Gellenbeck, a 10-year veteran of the police department, was booked into the Oklahoma County jail on Monday after turning himself in. An emergency protective order has been issued against Gellenbeck, and he has been placed on paid administrative leave, authorities said.

Oklahoma City police officer had been arrested for domestic assault before

This is the second time in recent years that Gellenbeck has been arrested.

In March 2021, police arrested him on a domestic assault and battery complaint.

At the time, police said the Domestic Violence Unit was made aware of a domestic abuse case involving a fellow officer at a home in northwest Oklahoma City.

After interviewing all parties, including Gellenbeck, investigators determined Gellenbeck was involved in a physical altercation that caused injuries.

Gellenbeck was placed on paid administrative leave at the time.

An emergency protective order was issued against Gellenbeck.

More: Oklahoma City police officer arrested in domestic assault case

Three charges were dismissed at the request of prosecutors — kidnapping, domestic assault and battery and interfering with an emergency telephone call.

Gellenbeck entered an Alford plea and received a $500 fine as punishment for misdemeanor disturbing the peace. Under an Alford plea, a defendant accepts a sentence for a crime without admitting to it.

Police Capt. Valerie Littlejohn told reporters Tuesday the misdemeanor disturbing the peace charge didn’t meet criteria for Gellenbeck to be fired.

“Everything that is pertaining to any previous incidents and obviously this incident will be part of the administrative investigation,” Littlejohn said. “As far as the previous incident where he was arrested in reference to a domestic, that went through the court process, and through that process that domestic charge was amended to a lesser charge and he was able to keep his employment with the department.”

In 2019, Gellenbeck was part of an officer-involved shooting in northwest Oklahoma City, according to a report by KFOR-TV.

Responding to an alarm in the area of NW 25 and Interstate 44, Gellenbeck and a police recruit knocked on the door of a house and were met by a man who pointed a gun at them, according to the report.

They retreated and fired their weapons at the man, who went back inside the house, before coming outside, according to the report.

No one was injured. Gellenbeck was placed on paid administrative leave at that time, according to the report.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC police officer accused of domestic assault, his second arrest