An Oklahoma man was arrested for allegedly stabbing another man through the head with a flagpole following an argument at a Sonic Drive-In in Tulsa.
The American flag was still attached to the pole as it pierced through the bottom of the victim’s mouth and out the right side of his head near the temple, police said. The man, who has not been publicly named, is expected to survive but could lose an eye.
Witnesses told police they heard 54-year-old Clinton Collins saying ‘That’s what he gets. He deserved it’ after allegedly stabbing the man.
Mr Collins was taken into custody on 2 August and charged with one count of felony maiming after a former conviction of a felony.
Tulsa police were called to Sonic in Tulsa Hills on 81st Street to a report of a stabbing around 7.30pm. Witnesses reportedly told police they saw Mr Collins “charge at the victim and stab him with the flagpole through his head.”
Tulsa Fire Department officials had to “cut part of the flagpole in order to fit the victim into the ambulance,” according to the news release.
Officer Bean told KJRH-TV, Officer Danny Bean that it was “like you’d see on TV or a horror movie — he ran at him and literally stabbed him through the head.”
“We certainly know that he did this on purpose,” Bean added.
Another witness told local news outlets that she recognised Mr Collins after seeing him exhibit similarly disturbing behaviour about a week earlier.
“We saw him start to charge at this person who was just sitting on the ground in front of the McDonald’s,” she said. “He charged at him with the flagpole and started doing like a stabbing motion with it.”
Tulsa police reassured residents that it appeared to be an isolated incident and do not typically see a lot of violent crime in the Tulsa Hills area.
