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  • Douglas R. Meyer, 27, of Edmond

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February 6, 2012

Edmond cop faces shoot/don’t shoot moment

Mark Schlachtenhaufen The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — A police officer fearing for his safety during a traffic stop Friday evening in downtown Edmond controlled a suspect without using his firearm, police said.

After stopping a car that did not have a working driver’s side tail light at First Street and Littler, Police Officer Ben Daves found himself in a shoot/don’t shoot situation.

In the narrative of his report released Monday to The Edmond Sun, Daves described the incident.

As he approached the car, he could smell a slight odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle, he stated. He had the driver get out of the silver Dodge Durango. When the officer asked the suspect if he had a gun, he said he had one in his jacket pocket.

“I then had him interlace his fingers behind his lower back so I could take custody of the firearm for my safety,” Daves stated in his narrative. “As I went to secure his hands he reached towards the right front jacket pocket with his right hand.

“At that time I immediately became fearful that he was trying to retrieve the gun from his jacket in an attempt to harm me. I did not draw my pistol and shoot him because there were two passengers in the car that would have been my backdrop.”

Instead, Officer Daves secured the suspect’s arms and pinned him up against the vehicle and held him there until his backup arrived, police said.

After Officer Jason Roach arrived and detained the front seat passenger, Officer Daves had Officer Roach take the gun from the suspect’s front right jacket pocket; it was a chamber loaded Springfield XD 9mm pistol, police said.

Police spokeswoman Glynda Chu said it is fortunate that no one was injured in the arrest, and that Officer Daves was able to handle the situation calmly, quickly and with the utmost professionalism.

“It was a split-second decision he had to make whether to shoot when he saw the suspect reaching toward the pocket holding the loaded gun,” Chu said. “In that second, he realized others could be in the line of fire and instead of shooting, he grabbed the suspect’s hand and held him until the backup officer arrived.”

After Officer Roach secured the gun, at Officer Daves’ request, Officer Christopher Nelson placed Douglas R. Meyer, 27, of Edmond, in handcuffs, police said.

Officer Daves asked the suspect if he had any other weapons and he said he had a knife, police said. In the same pocket as the knife, Officer Daves found a glass pipe used for the purpose of smoking meth. A white crystallized substance was in the pipe stem and bowl, according to the police incident report.

During a probable cause search of the vehicle, Officer Roach found a .9mm pistol that was also chamber loaded in the back seat under an infant car seat, police said.

In the driver’s side door panel, Officer Daves states he found a blue pill container with what appeared to be meth residue, police said. He also found a set of digital scales that also appeared to have meth residue on them, police said.

In Meyer’s pocket was a note explaining that he was sorry for stealing checks from a vehicle while he was working at a local tire retailer, police said. At the city jail, Jailer Jennifer Webster said she found four checks that did not belong to Meyer in his wallet, police said.

Officer Daves was able to identify the check theft victim who had his car worked on at the tire retailer, police said. The victim wished to press charges, police said. Meyer faced yet-to-be filed complaints of larceny from a motor vehicle and uttering a forged instrument, police said.

Police said Meyer was arrested on complaints of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a Schedule 2 controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Residue from the digital scales tested presumptive positive for meth, police said in the report.

A stolen cell phone was also linked to the suspect, police said.

Police said the front seat passenger, John Lawrence Wall, 28, of Edmond, was arrested on an active Oklahoma County warrant.

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