PIEDMONT, Okla. – A Canadian County deputy is off the force after getting arrested Friday night in Piedmont, allegedly driving his patrol car drunk.
Piedmont police said Cameron Henderson took out several different mailboxes and damaged some fences in two different neighborhoods.
“He hit our culvert, ramped the culvert, hit the gas meter, stopped at the gas meter, backed up, peeled out,” said Amber Woods.
Woods came home Friday night to a mess in her front yard – her mailbox taken out, the gas meter toppled over.
“Thought it had to be somebody from the neighborhood. I was surprised to hear it was a deputy,” Woods said. “It’s sad.”
Piedmont police said Henderson took out several mailboxes in the Skyline Addition before driving to the nearby Olde Town Addition where he could no longer drive his car and walked up to a home there.
“He was attempting to apologize to them and explain what had occurred when they, the people located at that residence contacted police and convinced him to stay until police arrived,” said Scott Singer, the Piedmont police chief.
Piedmont police took Henderson into custody and said he appeared to be intoxicated.
“We immediately took his badge, and his gun and his commission card, placed him on unpaid suspension and, by the close of business today, he no longer will work for the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office,” said Canadian County Sheriff Chris West.
West said Henderson was not on duty but he was driving his patrol car.
The Chevy Tahoe was heavily damaged with scrapes and dents, a side mirror hanging down and the front bumped ripped off.
“Certainly, we can’t condone this type of behavior. This was a bad decision that was made by Cameron off duty, and then he chose to take the sheriff’s cruiser. This was not in the scope of his employment, but we will take responsibility for it. We’ve been talking to insurance. We’ll make it right for the victims,” West said.
“The thing that concerned me was, you know, if our cars were parked in the driveway or if they had hit or hurt somebody else,” Woods said.
West said Henderson had been with his department for about three years but had only been on patrol for the past several months.
He was taken to the Yukon City jail instead of the Canadian County jail because he worked at the jail for much of his employment.
Henderson has since bonded out of jail.
