‘Do you want to get shot in the face?’

By John Dobberstein, Editor

The Pryor Creek Police Department is continuing to investigate an arrest that occurred Monday night in Pryor involving an allegedly drunk driver.

Police responded to the Okie Dokie Convenience Store in Pryor after receiving several calls about a drunk driver on the road.

The officer responding shines a flashlight into the Toyota SUV being driven by Charles M. Burrow, 37, and attempts to open the driver’s-side door, but Burrows abruptly shuts it. Later, Burrow opens the door and the officer asks Burrows to show his hands.

“Do you want to get shot in the f—kin face? Because I’m fixing to,” the officer can be heard yelling at Burrow while he is still seated in his SUV. Eventually Burrow shoves the door open into the officer’s gun hand and exits the vehicle saying “You wanna go there?” and the officer responds, “Yeah, let’s go there” before taking Burrow to the ground and handcuffing him.

Burrow was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants (APC/DUI). 

BODYCAM VIDEO

A video of the incident taken by a bystander began circulating on social media Tuesday and some had claimed the officer punched Burrow, but Pryor Creek Police Chief David Nicholas said there’s no evidence to support that at this time.

Police received the first calls about Burrows at 8:25 p.m., with a 911 caller reporting a "drunk driver" that went through three different stop signs and almost hit two cars.

The caller said the vehicle was a white Toyota SUV, and the driver was hanging out of the driver's side window. The caller advised that the driver did not look like he was "conscious at all" and that the vehicle did not have any lights on.

Pryor Creek Police Department received a second call advising a "guy super drunk driving" on Elliott Street in Pryor. Caller advised that the driver was asleep at the stop light driving a white Toyota SUV.

The caller advised that he "woke up" the driver and then the driver drove to a convenience store and was parked. The caller advised the driver was asleep again in the parking lot with the vehicle’s blinker still on.

CONVENIENCE STORE VIDEO

Police received a third call from a clerk at the same convenience store advising “they had a drunk at their store.”

The bodycam video from the officer released Tuesday night appears to show the following:

00:00:08: Officer exits his patrol vehicle after parking.

00:00:10: Officer approaches the driver's rear side of the Toyota utility vehicle

00:00:12: Store clerk comments "he about ran into the building"

00:00:15: Officer uses his flashlight to look inside the driver's window to see the driver, who is Burrow.

00:00:16: Officer makes contact with Burrow and says “Let me see your hand," and only Burrow's left hand is visible.

00:00:22: Officer opens the driver door and

Burrow shuts the door.

00:00:30: Officer attempts to call for back up on his handheld radio, but it’s unable to transmit

00:00:35: Officer says "Pryor start me a backer" as Burrow opens his door from the outside handle.

00:00:38: Burrow opens the door, which slowly begins to shut

00:00:40: Officer is unable to see Burrow's right hand, draws his service weapon and aims at Burrow and tells Burrow to let him see his hands.

00:00:43: Burrow pushes the door back open into officer's gun hand, which causes the door to slowly shut.

00:00:47: Burrow again pushes the door open into officer's gun hand and begins to exit the vehicle. Burrow says "You wanna go there?"

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00:00:49: Burrow exits the vehicle fully, can hear officer holster his service weapon.

00:00:51: Officer approaches Burrow and pushes him into the side of the vehicle and takes him to the ground.

00:01:16: the officer completes putting handcuffs on Burrow's wrists.

00:01:23: uses handheld radio to tell dispatch he's fighting one and to start MESTA (ambulance)

00:01:33: officer rolls driver onto his side and sits burrow up against the side of the vehicle.

The convenience store video shows (with accompanying timestamp) Burrow’s vehicle bumping into the curb when he arrives at the convenience store. The vehicle backs and stops several times before coming to rest, with the right turn indicator still activated.

At the 8:01:26 mark police said the officer steps away the vehicle as it appeared Burrow was reaching for something with his right arm. A few seconds later the officer removes his service weapon from holster and aims at Burrow.

Police said the convenience store video shows the officer placed his hands on Burrow’s shoulders after Burrow fully exits the vehicle and pushes him into the vehicle and then takes him to the ground.

“There is no evidence at this time that the officer struck the driver with his hand/fist. We are still interviewing witnesses. This is an ongoing investigation,” the department said.

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