Tulsa physician charged with assault on teens

[tim huntzinger]

The doc is my hero.  TPD is warning 'midtowners' about home invasions and one should wonder why.  Inasmuch as the good doctor phoned five times, apparently menacing behaviour is not enough to warrant a drive-by by the popo.  After being assaulted by a tree contractor in January and having the responding officers laugh at my complaint, the doctor should have saved his time and went right for the assault.

[waterboy]

There are a couple of cops on this forum. Wonder what their opinion is of you folks' "hero", his "heroic" actions and of including the doc in the same group often described as "heroes". He shouldn't be glorified anymore than they should be excused.

The cops not responding had nothing to do with whether he was justified in chasing them down and exacting what you would call justice. It was frustration manifested in violence, not defense of life. I can empathize with the frustration but not the actions.

[patric]

Over a period of time the doctor discovered that his safety was a low priority and went to "Plan B".  
I wonder if he had Tasered or Maced them instead that it would have ended up like the bounty hunter  who was pardoned by the police spokesman using the simple explanation that he "felt it was necessary to deploy the Taser".

Sounds better than "At some point the doctor felt it was necessary to deploy the baseball bat"

[ARGUS]

rare...Inteller is CORRECT once again.

[tim huntzinger]

Too bad he gave the little boy scouts the satisfaction of getting under his skin.

OK H20, you win.  Clearly by saying the good doc was my hero I meant that he should be given the Congressional Medal of Honor and a ticker tape parade.  BC scaring the begeez out of some punksters is the same as taking a bullet for freedom.  Riiiiiiiight.

Were the kids charged with trespassing? Disturbing the peace? No.

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by tim huntzinger
Were the kids charged with trespassing? Disturbing the peace? No.

The doctor did not press charges.  The kids that precipitated this were not as generous.  Had they chosen another house they might not even be alive today.

[TUalum0982]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

There are a couple of cops on this forum. Wonder what their opinion is of you folks' "hero", his "heroic" actions and of including the doc in the same group often described as "heroes". He shouldn't be glorified anymore than they should be excused.

The cops not responding had nothing to do with whether he was justified in chasing them down and exacting what you would call justice. It was frustration manifested in violence, not defense of life. I can empathize with the frustration but not the actions.

Put yourself in the DR's shoes.  If people had repeatedly rang your doorbell and you called the cops 5 times with no response what would you do in the situation? wait around for them to do it again and again? Obviously the DR felt he couldnt turn to the police to do anything, so he did what he felt needed to be done? did he go overboard, probably, does he deserve the charges that are now against him? Not in my opinion they don't.  But like someone said, the dr needs to pay for the car to be fixed, the kids get community service and everyone moves on.  Will it happen? Hell no.

[tim huntzinger]

Would be nice to know the constables' opinions. They will invariably blame the surgeon but miss the fact the dude called five times before he freaked.

Y'know, our little snowflakes are dying on the roads at rates far higher than the national average and here we have some kids on a Friday night using their car like a toy to harass a lifesaving doc and cannot get any decent advice much less a looksee.

We need to get those mace-happy Will Rogers guards on the streets and some of the cops behind a desk at Family & Childrens . . .

[waterboy]

That someone was me. I have been in the good docs position. My response was different and had better results. Instead of (over)reacting physically he should have followed his first instinct which was to address the problem in an adult manner.  Get their license plate and description of the car. Take pic if possible. He could even have followed them and talked to them in an adult, authoritarian manner. Believe it or not even young people who really don't deserve it, respond to being treated with respect.

Cops are not your personal bodyguards. I don't expect them to come running when pranksters repeatedly push my doorbell and go running. When I received numerous phone calls threatening my life and my family, the police and AT&T responded with suggestions that included tracking devices, caller ID etc. Once I found out who the guy was and what his problem was it had pretty much dissipated. Police were not needed. I could have went to his home and smashed his car with a bat but it wasn't necessary. In fact this whole doctor thing was analagous to a traffic road rage incident. You have to ask yourself, how many criminal arrests started with door bell runners? Some things you just take care of yourself without physical violence.

I know I'm wordy, but I want to share a real life tragedy that was quite similar that occurred in Tulsa back in the 70's. It hurts to remember. A family friend was managing a fast food restaurant near TU. Young teens would often order food and leave without paying for it causing him much frustration. One winter he and his kids made a snowman in their front yard. Some punk kids drove by and knocked it down. In a fit of rage and frustration he ran out of the house and chased them. Since the roads were slick he was able to catch up to them and reached into the open drivers window to grab the steering wheel or the keys. They panicked, thinking he was armed, and closed the electric windows on his arm and then proceeded to drag him down the street kicking and yelling till the car slid into a telephone pole. He was crushed against it and killed. His kids were watching in the front yard.

If he could catch them he could have gotten their tag number, called the police and filed a trespass or destruction of private property charge. He elected to do what the doctor did and paid a dear price. All the families involved were scarred for life.

The only threat to life in this incident was by the doc against the kids. I hope it ends up with charges against him dropped, damages paid and the kids doing community.

[TUalum0982]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

That someone was me. I have been in the good docs position. My response was different and had better results. Instead of (over)reacting physically he should have followed his first instinct which was to address the problem in an adult manner.  Get their license plate and description of the car. Take pic if possible. He could even have followed them and talked to them in an adult, authoritarian manner. Believe it or not even young people who really don't deserve it, respond to being treated with respect.

Cops are not your personal bodyguards. I don't expect them to come running when pranksters repeatedly push my doorbell and go running. When I received numerous phone calls threatening my life and my family, the police and AT&T responded with suggestions that included tracking devices, caller ID etc. Once I found out who the guy was and what his problem was it had pretty much dissipated. Police were not needed. I could have went to his home and smashed his car with a bat but it wasn't necessary. In fact this whole doctor thing was analagous to a traffic road rage incident. You have to ask yourself, how many criminal arrests started with door bell runners? Some things you just take care of yourself without physical violence.

I know I'm wordy, but I want to share a real life tragedy that was quite similar that occurred in Tulsa back in the 70's. It hurts to remember. A family friend was managing a fast food restaurant near TU. Young teens would often order food and leave without paying for it causing him much frustration. One winter he and his kids made a snowman in their front yard. Some punk kids drove by and knocked it down. In a fit of rage and frustration he ran out of the house and chased them. Since the roads were slick he was able to catch up to them and reached into the open drivers window to grab the steering wheel or the keys. They panicked, thinking he was armed, and closed the electric windows on his arm and then proceeded to drag him down the street kicking and yelling till the car slid into a telephone pole. He was crushed against it and killed. His kids were watching in the front yard.

If he could catch them he could have gotten their tag number, called the police and filed a trespass or destruction of private property charge. He elected to do what the doctor did and paid a dear price. All the families involved were scarred for life.

The only threat to life in this incident was by the doc against the kids. I hope it ends up with charges against him dropped, damages paid and the kids doing community.

we can all play monday morning QB, and hindsight is 20/20, but do you really think these kids would have stopped simply by their parents telling them "you shouldnt bother the neighbor, blah blah blah"?  Probably not.  Kids are kids, I understand that, but sometimes they need to be taught a lesson.  Hopefully the lawsuit will drag out, the kids parents will lose the lawsuit and alot of money for attorneys fees, court costs, etc.

[CoffeeBean]

Water -

I respectfully disagree.  Rightly or wrongly, by pranking people, these kids put themselves in harm's way.  

They should be thankful they encountered a doctor with a bat and not Bubba with a shotgun.

[okcpulse]

Agreed, the doctor did go overboard and should pay for the damages.  However, the days of rampant immaturity are numbered.  Unfortunately, lawyers are keeping it alive.  Lawyers will make sure nothing will happen to these kids.  Surely they won't be pranking again- ever.

But other teens aren't going to take note of this incident.  The pranks will continue.

My point? One thing we've learned from history is we don't learn from history.

[guido911]

It looks as if the charges against the doctor are misdemeanors and have been assigned to traffic court. Also, as pointed out the kids have lawyered up and have brought a civil action against the doc as well. You know where you can find the list of these plaintiffs.

[sauerkraut]

I'd guess the kids must of did more than what was reported or it was a on-going thing and the good doctor just snapped. I think theres more to the story. Every story has 4 sides to it, so it'll take some real digging to find out what really went on.