Report Released on OHP Trooper's Excessive Force Complaint

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper on leave for the second time this year for excessive force complaints justified his actions of hitting a man with his baton in newly released incidents reports. <br /><br /><a href="http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/griffin/NEWS9/PDF/0910/Trooper_Incident.pdf" target="_blank">Read the Troopers' Statements and Probable Cause Affidavit</a> &nbsp;

Friday, October 9th 2009, 7:22 pm

By: News 9


By Colleen Chen, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper on leave for the second time this year for excessive force complaints, justified his actions of hitting a man with his baton in newly released incidents reports.

Kristopher Douglas accused Trooper Daniel Martin of using excessive force last Saturday in Holdenville.

"He started beating on me with a nightstick and the other officer jumped on my back and put a knee in my back and I was getting hit with a nightstick," Douglas said earlier this week regarding the incident.

So far, neither Trooper Martin nor his attorney have told their side of story, but the incident reports give more details of what might have happened last Saturday night.

The documents stated Kristopher Douglas was never the target. Instead, he was a bystander to a traffic stop that occurred in his friend's Holdenville driveway. However, pages of reports from OHP said Douglas wasn't an innocent bystander, but an unruly one.

Read the Troopers' Statements and Probable Cause Affidavit

Trooper Martin state in the report, "due to the fact that Douglas appeared that he took a fighting stance, blading himself, and consistently disobeying order (4 requests to move back away from the scene), Trooper Martin retrieved his expandable baton out of its sheath and expanded it."

The report indicated this happened after another Trooper, Tommy Allen, had already attempted to move Douglas away from the scene by grabbing his wrist.

Martin's report said that after Douglas resisted arrest, he "delivered one baton strike to Douglas' left thigh in order for him to comply with commands."

Both Allen's and Martin's reports indicated Douglas was "sweating", "clenching his teeth", and "appeared to be under the influence of some type of drug".

Both troopers wrote those things, coupled with "the size of Douglas (over 6 feet tall, approximately 300 pounds), heightened the concern for officer safety."

Towards the end of Martin's report, he wrote that Douglas told him that he realized "he made a mistake and should have listened to the commands to step back."

Douglas' attorney said Trooper Martin's reports are not to be trusted since his written report on the paramedic choking case was discounted by video. He said he plans to "have Trooper Martin's badge."

Trooper Martin and Trooper Allen are both on paid leave pending an investigation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More on News9.com:
- Trooper Involved in Paramedic Scuffle Faces New Allegations of Using Excessive Force
- State Lawmaker Calls Trooper Martin's Actions, New Allegations Unacceptable
- Suspect Accusing Trooper of Beating Him Appears in Court

Read More About the Trooper-Paramedic Scuffle in May:
- Paramedic Discusses Trooper Quarrel on CBS Early Show
- Paramedic's Attorney Responds
- Attorney Defends Trooper's Actions in Paramedic Scuffle
- Was the Choke Hold Legal?
- Trooper Dash Cam Video Raises Concerns
- In Depth Analysis of Trooper Dash Cam Video
- OHP Releases Trooper's Dash Cam Clip
- Read the troopers' reports
- OHP Trooper Investigation Closed
- Paramedic Defends Himself After Trooper Scuffle
- Read the Paramedic's Report
- Trooper Claims Paramedic Gave Him The Finger
- Read a witness's statement
- Paramedics, Troopers Defend Themselves After Fight
- Trooper, Paramedic Fight Caught on Tape

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