Haskell Assistant Chief Describes Role In Long Police Chase

Watching a police chase like the one that stretched from Tulsa to almost Haskell yesterday can be entertaining for the general public, but it's a different story for the officers involved.

Assistant Haskell police chief Kermit  Thomas tells me our live streaming of the chase helped him and his officers keep track of it so they could get ready. He and the chief set up two roadblocks outside of town while other officers did the same at the city limits. They were all determined not to let the suspect barrel through their town just as kids were getting out of school.

"That's when the adrenaline really rushed," said Assistant Chief Kermit Thomas III, Haskell Police.

3/8/2017 Related Story: Coweta Police Identify Man Arrested After High-Speed Chase

Thomas was the first road block. At first, Cameron Coomer was headed right at him, but swerved around at the last moment. Thomas came close to ramming Coomer, but took off after him as he went around the second road block, which was Haskell's police chief.

"I'm thinking, 'kids, kids, kids, this has to stop out here before it gets into town,'" Thomas said.

Thomas figured he had one last chance so he accelerated past Coomer, hoping to box him in with the help of a Coweta officer from behind.

"At that point, I reached 110 miles an hour, so I jammed on my brakes to get him to stop," Thomas said.

But Coomer took a driveway, blew through a gate and finally came to rest on a fence. Thomas ran up to the passenger side and tapped his gun on the window to distract Coomer so the other officers could get him out of the car.

Thomas says he saw the car in reverse and tried to move, but it knocked him to the ground.

"It was a moment of, 'Hurry up, get up, don't get run over.'"

He says pursuits are stressful, as officers juggle many life and death decisions at once. 

"To them, it's exciting. To us, it's not really knowing if we're going home to our family that night or how many lives will be lost."

Police booked the suspect, 22-year-old Cameron Coomer, into the Wagoner County jail on a long list of charges, including eluding police, DUI and willfully avoiding roadblocks.