Clinton Collins (Tulsa Police Dept.) and the Sonic Drive-In where he allegedly stabbed a man in the head with a flagpole (KOKI screenshot)
A 54-year-old Oklahoma man was arrested this week and faces up to life in prison for allegedly stabbing another man “through the head with a flagpole” following an argument at Sonic Drive-In fast food restaurant in Tulsa. Clinton Collins was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of felony maiming after former conviction of a felony, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Tulsa Police Department titled “STABBED THROUGH THE HEAD WITH A FLAGPOLE”, TPD officers at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2 responded to an emergency call in reference to a stabbing at the Sonic located in Tulsa Hills.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they located an adult male victim “with a flagpole through his head.”
“The pole entered the victim’s head beneath his jaw and exited the other side of his head near his right temple area,” police wrote in the release. “The American Flag was still attached [to] the pole at the time.”
Investigators spoke to multiple witnesses, all of whom said they saw Collins “charge at the victim and stab him with the flagpole through his head.” Additionally, those witnesses also told police that after allegedly stabbing the victim through the head, Collins said, “That’s what he gets. He deserves it.”
Officers on the scene quickly apprehended Collins and took him into custody.
Firefighters with the Tulsa Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services personnel also responded to the scene. After locating the victim, police said firefighters “had to cut part of the flagpole” off in order for the victim to fit into the ambulance. He was then transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Miraculously, the victim — who authorities have not publicly identified — is expected to survive his horrific injuries. However, police said it is likely that he will lose one of his eyes.
TPD Officer Danny Bean, who responded to the call, told Tulsa Fox affiliate KOKI-TV that when he got to the Sonic, Collins was “still there” and continued saying that the victim “deserved it.” Bean told the station it was clear that Collins acted “with the intent,” saying the stabbing “was not an accident.”
Describing the incident to Tulsa NBC affiliate KJRH-TV, Officer Bean said 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 said of Collins.
KOKI also identified a woman who told the station that she recognized Collins after seeing him exhibit similarly disturbing behavior about a week prior to the incident at the Sonic.
“We saw him start to charge at this person who was just sitting on the ground in front of the McDonald’s,” she told the station in an interview. “He charged at him with the flagpole and started doing like a stabbing motion with it.”
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