OHP Trooper Investigation Closed

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The investigation into an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper involved in a scuffle with a Creek Nation paramedic has been closed.

OHP Capt. Chris West said Trooper Daniel Martin was put on paid administrative leave June 1 while the patrol's internal affairs investigate the May 24 incident. Martin has not yet been reinstated.

"We didn't want to rush ourselves on the investigation," Capt. West said. "We want to make sure there was a thorough and comprehensive investigation."

- Read the troopers' reports
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- Read a witness's statement
- Paramedics, Troopers Defend Themselves After Fight
- Trooper, Paramedic Fight Caught on Tape

West said the investigation did not focus on whether Martin broke the law, but rather focused on whether he violated OHP policies and procedures. Martin's wife was in the trooper's car at the time of the incident, but West said that does not violate OHP policy. The matter has now been handed over to OHP Chief Van Guillotte for review.

A confrontation occurred after Martin pulled over the ambulance, which was taking a woman to the hospital in Prague. The trooper said he was upset that the ambulance did not yield as he responded to an emergency call.

"I believe this will play out into the end and I just think we should allow the investigation to take its course and go with that," Trooper Martin said.

Martin and paramedic Maurice White Jr. scuffled after the traffic stop, but White wasn't arrested. Prosecutors said they don't intend to charge either man.

The Highway Patrol has refused to release video from the trooper's dashboard camera.