KOCO.com: Jurors Convict Man Accused In Officer’s Death
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jurors on Friday convicted a man of second-degree murder in the death of an Oklahoma City police officer.
The panel of seven men and five women also recommended a 45-year prison term for Kyle Wayne Grider, 23, who was accused of causing the accident that killed Sgt. Jonathan Dragus on Oct. 20, 2005.
Dragus was trying to stop Grider, who was said to have been riding a stolen motorcycle, when a high-speed pursuit ensued and eventually ended up on the Northwest Expressway, or Oklahoma Highway 3, in northwest Oklahoma City.
Dragus lost control of his police cruiser and it crashed at an intersection on the highway, reports show. He died shortly after the crash.
In closing arguments, defense attorney Charles Cox said Grider has never denied he was guilty of eluding police, for which he also is charged, but he maintained his client was not to blame for the wreck that killed Dragus.
“In this particular situation, no one took Sgt. Dragus’ life,” Cox said. “He died in a car wreck.”
Prosecutors contend Grider was responsible for the crash because he chose to run when Dragus tried to pull him over. . .
I know most of my readers may disagree with me on this, but I think the jury was wrong. The defendant stole a motorcycle and ran from the police. This was stupid and criminal, but I don’t think it is murder. Northwest Expressway is one of the busiest streets in OKC (for out-of-town readers, it isn’t a true freeway but rather a busy highway that has many driveways and stop lights every half mile or so), and I can’t imagine why the OKC cops would do a high speed pursuit on this road unless it was life and death (and a stolen motorcycle isn’t life and death). Sure this kid was stupid and panicked, but a much better approach would be to continue pursuit at normal speeds and track the thief’s location by air.
So the result of all of this is that due to a stupid criminal deciding to run, the poor judgment of OKC police, and the really bad judgment of a jury, we have not only a killed public servant but we also have a wasted life with young man facing the next 45 years to be spent in prison.
This is madness in my opinion and is a tragedy.
I agree, this really sucks. Yes, he should be punished, but this is not justice, in my opinion. I assume it will be appealed, and then, hopefully, some of the revenge aspects of this will be eliminated.
Kyle is my cousin and I think this whole thing has gotten way out of hand. True, he should be
punished for eluding a police officer, but not for second degree murder. I feel for the officers
family, but they are just trying to blame somebody for his death. The guy that pulled
out in front of the officer should be the one on trial, you don’t pull out in the street with a cop going about 90mph with his sirens on. Kyle’s a good guy and he’s way too young to be put in prison for the
rest of his life. I love him and am behind him 100 percent. Kyle Grider is not a murderer and
should’nt be labeled as one. He’s got his whole life ahead of him and i’m praying every night that
this judgement be appealed. I LOVE YOU KYLE!!!!
I agree with you both, the punishment does not fit the crime. The only reason the punishment is so harsh is because he was a police officer. Yes he should be punished for eluding an officer and possession of stole vehicle but not murder. He did not even cause the wreck. If he would have been involved in the accident he would have only gotten invouluntary manslaughter. Sounds like another case of Oklahoma Injustice. Read John Grisham’s “Innocent Man”. I am an Aunt to Kyle, although I dont know him well. I know he is not capable of murder. Maybe if he was a celebrity he would have just gotten a slap on the wrist.