On 11/25 at 2 p.m., I was dispatched to winch out a vehicle that had crossed onto a company's property and become stuck in mud where a water line had recently been repaired. I finished my current call and arrived on-site at 3 p.m. The customer was waiting with the business owner. I greeted both of them and went over the situation.
The customer was very humble and apologetic, fully taking responsibility for the mistake. The business owner then told me that when I winched the truck out, he didn't want any mud on his concrete. I explained that I would not be driving onto the grass/mud and would only be winching from the concrete, so I wouldn't be tracking any mud onto it. However, I also let him know that the customer's truck would likely drag mud onto the concrete when he drove away.
At that point, the business owner told me that I would need to load the customer's truck onto my bed and tow it off the property so that no mud touched his concrete. I told him I was only authorized and paid to perform a winch-out, nothing more. He then told me that if I wasn't going to do what he said, I needed to leave his property. I replied that the only way I could remove the vehicle was by completing the winch-out from his side.
He then approached me aggressively. I stood my ground while we exchanged words, and then I left that side of the property and attempted to access the truck from the other side. From there, I was unable to winch the customer's vehicle because it was sunk about half a rim deep in mud and pressed against the concrete foundation.
Edmond PD arrived shortly after. As they pulled up, I received a call from my boss saying that the business owner had reported that I spit on him and physically assaulted him. I was shocked. I told my boss that not only did I not do that -- I would never do something that could jeopardize my family's security.
Right after I hung up, the officer approached me and told me he had read the dispatch notes. He said the man reported to dispatch that I assaulted him and spit on him. However, when speaking to the officer in person, the man changed his story and claimed that spit "hit him" while I we exchanged words. I explained to the officer that this would not have happened had the man not walked directly into my face yelling at me.
The business owner then told the officer, "I didn't know what to do. It was just little old me and this big Black man." If I were truly such a threat, he wouldn't have approached me so aggressively in the first place.
The truth is that he became aggressive with me, and I simply stood my ground. He stepped into my personal space yelling, and when I didn't back down, he became angry. He then made a false police report claiming I assaulted him, clearly hoping I would be arrested. After that, he called my job, dragged my name through the mud, told my boss he wanted me sent to jail, and demanded I be fired.
All I do is work hard and go home to my family. Today, I almost didn't make it home because I came in to work on my day off. This situation was stressful, unnecessary, and deeply unfair. My wife is 6 months pregnant and has preeclampsia. I had to spend most of my night monitoring her blood pressure and making sure we didn't need to go the ER......No one should be treated this way for simply trying to do their job.... read more