Tuesday, July 30th 2024, 9:57 pm
A 42-year-old man is in custody accused of leading law enforcement on a chase on Highway 169 north of Collinsville on Tuesday.
Tulsa County Deputies say the call started as a check on a possibly armed suicidal suspect. That suspect has been identified as Donald Schnell.
Deputies and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol say this had the potential to get dangerous, but that both law enforcement and Schnell, made it out okay.
Tulsa County Deputies say they were called to help Rogers County Tuesday afternoon with a suspect that dispatchers say was possibly armed and suicidal.
OHP says Schnell was barricaded in his car before he drove off twice, leading dozens of law enforcement officers on a chase going north in the southbound lanes of Highway 169.
Once he stopped, deputies say he drove towards a Tulsa County deputy, who deputies say shot at him.
Deputies don’t believe he was hit by gunfire.
Tulsa County Deputies say Schnell got out of his car and was taken into custody with the help of a K9 and pepper balls.
"A really scary situation,” said Casey Roebuck, the Communications Director for the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. “There could have been people in the houses nearby that were injured, motorists, the trooper that was struck. This was a really scary situation so we're glad that no one was hurt. We're glad that the suspect wasn't hurt."
OHP says it was a team effort to keep everyone safe.
"There's five different law enforcement agencies out here and we all worked together flawlessly, communicating great,” said Lt. Mark Southall with OHP. “We're thankful that we were able to do that with the technology we have."
Troopers say they’re thankful to everyone for staying calm and out of the way of law enforcement.
"Thank y'all for your patience,” said Southall. “We apologize that the roadway was shut down, but it really was shut down for everybody's safety. We want to make sure with a situation like this, we don't know what's going to happen, we don't know if there's going to be bullets flying from him or maybe from us and we have to just make sure we keep everybody safe."
Tulsa County deputies and OHP will be investigating. Schnell is in the Rogers County jail facing charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and eluding police while endangering others.
His bond is set at $100.000, RCSO arrest records show. He's set to appear in court on Aug. 7th.
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