'Do The Right Thing': Good Samaritan Helps Tulsa County Deputies Take Down Chase Suspect

A Pawkuska man helped Tulsa County Deputies capture a man who was running from law enforcement.

Body camera video from the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office shows Al Hughan holding the suspect before a deputy arrives and arrests the suspect at LaFortune Park in Tulsa.

Hughan says he just wanted to make sure that the situation didn’t get any worse.

"I was just trying to do the right thing, herd the geese, learn some things," said Hughan. "Lo and behold, I just ended up doing something out of the ordinary. Thought I never would have done it, but it happened."

Hughan was herding geese Wednesday as part of a relocation program when he ran right into a suspect who was running from deputies.

Body camera video shows Hughan holding James Pennington to keep him from running away.

"I could have tackled him, I could have brought him to the ground, I could have screamed at him, all sorts of things, but I just decided just to bear claw him," Hughan said.

Pennington was running from deputies after they said he fled a traffic stop and then crashed into an innocent driver near LaFortune Park. 

Hughan said he heard the crash and figured out something wasn’t right.

"As I was approaching him, I could tell that he was impaired just the way he was running, his bloodshot eyes, his red face," Hughan said.

Deputies said they found beer cans in Pennington's car and that he was likely drunk at the time.

Hughan is a veteran and says his time in the Army taught him how to handle situations like this.

"I run off adrenaline," Hughan said. "I jumped out of airplanes for the Army, and that was the go-getter. It was just almost as if training kicked in. And I just jumped into action and just took care of it."

He says it’s probably not something he’s going to do again, because he knows this is dangerous.

But he says he’ll always do what's right.

"Do the right thing," Hughan said. "Whether it's not doing anything, getting out of the way, or assessing the situation and doing with what you can."

Deputies say Pennington was arrested on several complaints including reckless driving and DUI.

Related: Bodycam Video Shows TCSO Deputies Arrest Man Accused Of Fleeing Traffic Stop In Tulsa