Konawa City Manager threatens officer's job after a traffic stop
KONAWA, Okla. (KFOR) - Body camera footage showed the moment that a Konawa police officer pulled over a speeding truck. Inside the vehicle was the City Manager, Daniel Bruton, who was not pleased with being pulled over.
In the body camera footage, Bruton is seen outside of the vehicle when the officer steps out of his police truck. Bruton can be heard yelling, "I'm trying to get the water back on."
The officer, who is unaware of the issue, still tries to do his job and tells Bruton that he was speeding.
"I'm telling you right now, you better get back in that truck or you're not going to have a job," said Bruton.
Things escalated quickly after Bruton got back to his truck.
"I'm trying to be respectful with you here," said the officer.
"Well, I'm not being respectful," Bruton yelled back.
The officer told Bruton to go; no ticket or warning was given. The traffic stop ended, but the City Manager later confronted the officer again. The second interaction was all caught on camera.
"So let me explain something to you, when I got out of the truck and I told there was a water emergency, that's where you should have ended it," said Bruton.
The officer tried to tell Bruton again that he was just doing his job. However, the City Manager said, "No, you're not. You're arguing with your boss."
Bruton then called the Chief of Police, Bryan Russell, and said, "I'm firing Johnathan, right now."
News 4 tried to talk with Bruton on Friday at City Hall; however, he was not there. Instead, the City Treasurer, Jami Hamilton, said she could speak for him.
"I do not condone Danny's behavior in all this. However, I do know why he was like that and so frustrated and upset. He's had no support from the police in anything."
News 4 asked if the Chief of Police was there too, but he was not.
She went on to tell News 4 that the officer in the body camera footage was not fired.
A former City of Konawa employee recognized the City Manager in the body camera footage and said this behavior is familiar, as she shared previous experiences with him.
"I explained to the City Manager that I needed to change what was already posted, and it was time to go home," said Dedee Clark, former city employee. "He got very irritated, very agitated, told me it was fine. He told me to close down my computer and go home. He yelled out so loud that the hallway heard him, and multiple people came to me afterwards and said, Are you okay?"
Clark said after two more similar incidents, she was let go.