Police Search For Suspect Accused Of Assaulting Paoli Officer, Ramming Patrol Car

Authorities are searching for a suspect who punched a Paoli Assistant Police Chief then rammed his patrol car.

It began as a routine traffic stop for Assistant Chief Hutchings and his K9 officer.

Body camera video, taken early Saturday morning, showed the officer pull over a man and make conversation with him.

When the officer ran the man’s license, he noticed there was a warrant out for his arrest in Garvin County for domestic assault and battery by strangulation.

The officer then went to arrest the suspect, Quinn Wykoff, but faced immediate resistance.

Video showed Wycoff turn and punch the officer, then run back to his truck.

“Wycoff realized that he was going to be in pursuit chasing him, so he slammed on his breaks, put the vehicle in reverse and slammed into the front of the patrol vehicle causing major damage to it,” Paoli Police Chief Dustin Cook said.

The suspect then took off, and the damaged patrol car was taken to a garage.

Cook said without one patrol car, the entire department will suffer.

“We don’t have a lot of vehicles,” Cook said.

Luckily for Cook and the department, his assistant chief and K9 officer are doing OK.

“I’ve told him to rest several times, but he’s been out nonstop trying to find this individual” Cook said of Hutchings.

Meanwhile, Paoli officers, the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office and Oklahoma Highway Patrol continue to search for Wycoff.

Authorities consider Wycoff armed and dangerous and advise anyone who sees him to call 911 instead of approaching him.

“He's a fighter and he does not care who it is. It's men, women, children, even police officers now,” Cook said.