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Jerry Dean Hoover
A Kansas man is facing assault and battery charges for swinging a steel club while rushing at law enforcement officers during an altercation in Wynnewood last week.
The incident started around 8 p.m. Dec. 1 when the suspect, identified as Jerry Dean Hoover, 66, of Louisburg, Kansas, accosted a Wynnewood police officer on patrol near W. Chickasaw Street and S. Washita Avenue.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, the officer was crossing the railroad tracks on W. Chickasaw Street when Hoover jumped from behind the tall grass near the tracks and stood in the road in front of his patrol vehicle. Hoover was screaming profanities and threats and swinging what appeared to be a golf club, according to the affidavit. The officer said Hoover appeared to be “intoxicated on drugs.”
The club Hoover was wielding was later determined to be a three-foot steel shaft with a five-inch handle weighing about three pounds, according to a statement released on social media Tuesday by the Wynnewood Police Department.
As the officer stepped from the patrol vehicle, Hoover charged at him, swinging the club. The officer drew his firearm and ordered Hoover to stop and drop the club, according to the affidavit. Hoover continued to move toward the officer, then turned suddenly and began walking toward a nearby convenience store.
The officer got back in his patrol car and moved to intercept Hoover before he reached the busy convenience store parking lot.
As the officer stopped the vehicle and got out, Hoover charged at him with the club again, yelling, before heading back east toward the railroad tracks. A foot chase ensued as Hoover ran north along the tracks toward U.S. Highway 77. As he reached the railroad crossing at Highway 77, Hoover turned and ran toward the officer again, swinging the club at him.
“Attempting to use a less lethal option, the officer deployed his taser, making contact with the man’s back, but unsuccessfully penetrating through his thick clothing,” according to the Wynnewood Police Department’s social media post.
The officer then deployed a can of pepper spray to Hoover’s face with no effect.
Hoover again headed toward the convenience store, with the officer following on foot and issuing commands for Hoover to stop and drop the club.
The affidavit said as they approached the convenience store parking lot, the officer began to yell for bystanders to get back in their vehicles. Hoover and the officer were met on the west side of the parking lot by an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife officer and three Garvin County Sheriff Deputies.
A second can of pepper spray was deployed with no effect as Hoover continued to charge officers, swinging the club. Deputies deflected the club with their batons, as they tried to subdue Hoover, and at least one deputy drew his firearm as he ordered Hoover to stop.
Another deputy was able to use the push guard on his patrol unit to make contact with Hoover and knock him down so officers could subdue him.
Once in custody, Hoover was transported to Valley Community Hospital, where he was medically cleared before being booked into the Garvin County jail.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hoover told officers at the jail he had taken drugs earlier in the day, but he did not know what, and that he had jumped a train in Kansas and rode it to Wynnewood.
Hoover was charged in Garvin County District Court Monday with five counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
As of press time Wednesday, Hoover was still being held in the Garvin County jail on a $50,000 bond.
The statement issued by the Wynnewood Police Department Tuesday thanked all responding agencies and lauded the fact that no one was injured during the incident, including law enforcement, a circumstance which was attributed to the “training, experience and dedication of the officers on scene.”