Man Gets Probation For Edmond Road Rage Crash Caught On Camera

A man pleaded guilty to crashing his truck into an SUV in a fit of road rage while his 4-year-old child was in the backseat.

In Oklahoma County District Court Monday morning, Steven Coughran pleaded guilty to two felonies: assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and child neglect.

Coughran was driving his red pickup truck on I-35 in Edmond in August 2021 when he tried to swerve into Brett Powers' SUV to his left. Powers was able to dodge Coughran and avoid a collision.

Following his miss, Coughran tailed Powers briefly, performed a double-lane change to his right to get around another vehicle, then returned to his original lane to sideswipe Powers' SUV, causing it to crash into the highway median. The road rage incident happened right in front of a News 9 employee, whose wife recorded the crash on her cell phone.

Investigators said Coughran's 4-year-old child was in the truck with him.

“I’m not gonna say I wasn’t playing stupid," Coughran told the responding trooper. "I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. I was being a dumb***. You know how testosterone is.”

The responding trooper declined to watch News 9's cell phone video of the crash. Instead, he only gave Coughran a ticket for improper lane change, which carried a $249 fine.

"This is kind of where I’m going to cut (Coughran) a break, okay, because obviously, he's a dad, and I don’t want to mess his life up, you know what I'm saying?" the trooper said to the victims. "Child endangerment is a felony. A felony means you go to jail."

After News 9 aired video of the crash on television, the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety suspended the trooper without pay for 15 days.

"The public outcry about your handling of this situation has cast the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in a bad light," said Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton in a letter to the trooper informing him of his suspension.

"The gravity of your failure to act cannot be overstated," Tipton later said in the letter. "Your conduct is deemed to have a major adverse impact on members, employees, members of the public, and public safety, and on the operations, professional image, and mission of the Department."

Coughran's attorney, Steve Stice, explained that as a result of Monday's guilty plea, Coughran received a five-year deferred sentence. This meant that if he successfully completes his probation, he would avoid a conviction. During the five-year probation, Coughran must not have any firearms and must not violate any laws.

Coughran will be supervised for two years or until a restitution of $8,800 is paid, said Stice. Coughran must check in with a probation officer once a month as long as there is an outstanding balance for his restitution.

Stice said Coughran had already completed an extensive anger management course.

"My client is thankful for the outcome of this case," Stice said in a statement to News 9. "He recognizes the poor and dangerous decisions he made on the date of the incident and is taking responsibility for them. My client is a good man with no prior criminal history who let his emotions get the best of him. Both parties engaged in unreasonable behavior that day. He accepts that there are consequences for his actions and plans to move on from this incident and fulfill the obligations under the terms of his probation."

News 9 also reached out to Powers, who sent the following statement:

"I’m pleased Steven took accountability for his actions. And I’m thankful everyday that myself, my passenger Jordon Steven and his son, along with the other accidents Steven caused that day - that no one was killed or severely injured to the point of life being different for the victims involved from that day moving forward.

"I also hope this serves as a warning to all drivers on the roadways. And I’m also very thankful for the witnesses that came forward. I know it was a long grueling year and eight months for justice to be served. Without the witnesses, this situation could have gone a very different route and to them we are all very grateful."