Man Arrested After Police Standoff

Sunday, February 11th 2007, 3:24 pm

By: News On 6

A bizarre standoff shuts down a portion of Interstate-44 near Sapulpa Sunday afternoon. Police say man, suffering from a bipolar disorder, ransacked an adult store, tried to hit a police officer, then engaged officers in a half-hour long standoff before finally being arrested.

News On 6 reporter Chris Wright reports on the strange sequence of events that ended with police tasering a man they believe is a mental patient, who had not been taking his medication.

The problems began just after 2 p.m. Sunday when authorities say the man started breaking things at an adult novelty-store in Sapulpa. Police say the man was causing a disturbance at â€œPriscilla's,â€ then he ran into a Sapulpa police officer, who happened to be in the parking lot, took a swing at her, then took off in his truck.

After leaving police say he hit a curb, blew out several tires and broke down on the Interstate-44 on-ramp. That's when things got even stranger.

"He began waving some type of object in the air,â€ Sapulpa Police Captain Mike Reed said. â€œThe officer couldn't tell if it was a weapon or not, so she stayed back,"

At first officers thought the man was waving a gun while yelling at them, turns out it was a twelve-inch long piece of plastic.

"He called it a scepter from God, that's why he was waving it around at us, he was blessing our officers," said Reed.

Officers from Sapulpa, Tulsa's Special Operations Team and the Highway Patrol were not amused though. After about half-an-hour they were able to convince the man, who was dressed in only a bathrobe and pajamas, to get out of his truck. Still, he was not following officers instructions, and that's when they tasered him.

In a final odd twist, police say the man wasn't upset about the arrest. In fact, he didn't seem to mind at all.

"He was very grateful. When we were done, he thanked everybody, was a happy go-lucky guy," Reed said.

The suspect's wife reported him missing before the incidents occurred. Police say he has been admitted to an emergency mental health center, where he will receive a mental evaluation.