Ex-Con Arrested In Tulsa Faces 11 Felonies

An ex-con out on bond wearing an ankle monitor, charged with assault by strangulation has been arrested again, this time for 11 felonies.

According to Tulsa Police, Tuesday afternoon they saw a woman in a parked car vomiting. Police pulled over to check on her and saw two children in the backseat and smelled marijuana, so they asked the driver, Byron Thomas, to step out. They said he refused.

Police said when officers grabbed Thomas’ arm to get him out of the vehicle, he kept reaching under his seat. Police said they had to yank him out of the vehicle.

They said he was kicking and resisting and after he was cuffed, officers found a loaded pistol underneath his seat. Police also found heroin, meth, and ammo, including an armored piercing rifle round.

“In this situation, it turned out to be a high risk. He was an armed individual who had a felony record. We didn’t know why he was reaching, but clearly he was doing something that was clearly perceived as dangerous to the officers, so they had to pull him out,” Captain Richard Meulenberg said.

Police said Thomas also had an AR15 at his home, loaded with armor piercing rounds.

In addition to his pending 2020 charges, Thomas also has pending charges in Tulsa County from 2019 for having a gun as a former felon, obstructing officers, and having drugs.

Police said he’s also been convicted of crimes in Kansas. Thomas’s bond is now set at $150,000. However, prosecutors plan to ask for the bond to be revoked.