Story Created:
Aug 21, 2009 at 5:04 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Aug 21, 2009 at 6:05 PM CDT
Two Oklahoma City Police Officers charged in an alleged drive-by shooting. The incident happened back in June, and no one was hurt. But officials say the men were overstepping their authority while off-duty.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said, "If they want to act like a gang banger, we'll treat them like a gang banger."
Outside of a strip club in Northwest Oklahoma City, 2 men in an SUV threw beer bottles on the ground and got into an argument with a group of people. Later, one of the suspects was hanging out of the window waiving a pistol. Witnesses say a shot was fired in their direction, and the SUV sped off. Turns out the 2 men involved were Oklahoma City Police Officers. D.A. David Prater says it's disappointing, and this isn't what the OCPD is about.
"Good men and women putting their lives on the line everyday, and then we have these 2 involved in conduct that we'd see a gang banger involved in, a drive-by shooting," Prater explained.
8 year veteran Diron Carter, and 7 year vet Michael McKethan were charged with Using a Vehicle to Intentionally Discharge a Firearm.
Captain Steve McCool with the OKC Police Department said, "We did what was right, we did the right thing and policed our own police department. So hopefully the citizens will realize that we don't condone this type of behavior, and we're taking care of it."
"Doesn't matter what you do for a living. You don't get a break cut to you if you're a police officer, firefighter, or anyone. If you're a citizen in this county you're treated the same," Prater described.
Court documents show that Carter admitted to fellow officers that he fired the gun, accidentally. Both sergeants have been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. Investigators have been in touch with their attorneys, so Carter and McKethan will turn themselves in.
"Anytime you have an officer involved in this type of conduct it can be perceived as a black eye on the department, but we hope the citizens would understand that once we got the information we immediately put them on leave, we investigated it thoroughly," Captain McCool concluded.
Both men are facing 1 felony charge each. If convicted it could come with a sentence of 2 years in prison to life in prison. The officer's future with the department is uncertain.
