Arrestee Attempts to Steal Trooper's Car, Injures people

1/10/01
KELLYVILLE, Okla. - A cruiser was wrecked Monday when the arrestee
managed to slip his cuffs to the front of his body and attempted 
to drive away in the officer's cruiser.

The incident began when Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Michael
Yelton stopped to investigate a car parked on the shoulder of the 
highway at 11 p.m.

Seeing evidence of alcohol use, Yelton knocked on the vehicle's 
window to get Michael Gerald Turner's attention. He appeared to be 
unconscious to the officer.

Upon getting Turner, 32, from his car, Yelton cuffed him behind 
his back, and placed him in the front seat of his patrol car. When 
Yelton walked back to the suspect's car to turn off its ignition, 
he heard his cruiser's horn.

Turner had slipped his cuffs to the front of his body and had the 
officer's car before Yelton was able to leap inside his rig and land 
on the man's lap.

"He literally had to jump in and sit on the suspects lap to get control 
of the vehicle," said Pete Norwood an agency spokesman. "Trooper Yelton 
was able to apply the brakes and get the car in park, but the car had 
backed across the lane of traffic."

The officer was still in Turner's lap when another motorist struck the 
vehicle. The driver and a passenger in that car were injured and  
taken to a local hospital. Three children in the backseat were not injured.

Yelton was treated for minor injuries to the head and leg and released.

Turner faces multiple charges stemming from the original arrest and the 
subsequent chain of events.

Backup news staff writer Richard Rogers

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