Police chief details first 'mask resistance' arrest

Keri Thornton, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
·3 min read

Mar. 16—During his weekly Chief Chat on March 15, Nate King covered call numbers, the McGirt ruling, and a mask dispute that landed one man in jail.

Nate King described the first arrest in which someone refused to follow the mask mandate when asked to wear one.

"As many of you may have heard, we made our first arrest affiliated with a mask ordinance violation at a local business after a citizen got into a dispute with the business over whether to wear a mask or not, and having service refused," said King. "Officers responded and the individual remained non-compliant, somewhat aggressive, would not cooperate with officers [who were] trying to handle the call."

The man ended up getting arrested for obstruction and resisting arrest.

"It's the first one in a year, and you can go back to those videos I posted even when we first passed the mask mandate. I told you then, we're not out trying to arrest people for not wearing a mask. We want people to wear their masks and we've been able to handle calls for a year in regard to masks with conversation, education, and with warnings," he said.

King also addressed the bomb threat made toward the courthouse last week.

"We assisted Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and Emergency Management. Thanks to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Unit for coming and assisting us in the search of the courthouse to make it safe," said King.

The TPD participated in two food distributions last week with the Tahlequah Fire Department.

King touched base on the recent Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decision in dismissing charges against felons Travis John Hogner and Shaun Michael Bosse.

Both men appealed after the Supreme Court's McGirt decision that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's reservation was still intact.

"We have taken steps even prior to this decision to be as prepared as we can be," said King. "I won't l; this is uncharted territory for all of law enforcement, from the federal level all the way down to the municipal level."

Two TPD detectives are assigned to an Federal Bureau of Investigation working group designed specifically to deal with these court rulings. King said they're cross-deputized with the CN Marshal Service, and they're still not sure what the process is going to look like.

"We're working with out District Attorney's Office, with the Cherokee Nation Attorney General's Office, and with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Muskogee. In essence, as a municipality, we've been dealing with this in a certain sense for years," said King.

The chief said the public won't see a change in their response, but perhaps a change on where and when cases go to court.

Officers reported a total of 780 calls for the week: seven shoplifting calls, eight burglaries, eight motor vehicle crashes, and four thefts.

"Once again, almost half of our thefts were stolen vehicles and what we're finding in these vehicles that are being stolen is they have the keys in them," said King.

King reiterated his plea from last week's Chief Chat and asked residents to secure their vehicles and property.

"They're unlocked with the keys in the ignition or in the cup holder. We're asking everyone to lock your cars, don't leave your keys in there, secure your property," King said. "Because we have people walking around Tahlequah just looking for a vehicle to steal. Make it secure and make it harder for someone to get to you."

Sgt. Shawn Presley had the most number of calls for service and building checks. Sgt. Bryan Qualls had the most traffic stops, and Officer Michael Gray had the most reports taken for the week. Officer Matt Frits led the department with most pedestrian contacts.

What's next

King will go live on the TPD Facebook page on Monday, March 22 at noon.

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