Weber, McGuirt proved to be Sallisaw’s last line of defense

Sequoyah County residents may be hugging their loved ones a little more tightly today when they consider how close Sallisaw came to making national headlines on Saturday … for all the wrong reasons.

With children happily playing in bounce houses on Oak Street and downtown Sallisaw streets jammed with festivalgoers for the annual Diamond Daze event, Sallisaw Police Capt. John Weber and Officer Wesley McGuirt found themselves as the last line of defense to prevent vehicular mayhem which would surely have resulted in massive casualties.

A high-speed chase on I-40 that began near Roland before the fleeing vehicle invaded Sallisaw streets ended abruptly when Weber and McGuirt used their 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe cruiser to stop the speeding 2020 Hyundai by hitting it head-on, just one block from where the children, unaware of what could have been, were playing, with thousands more patrons just beyond enjoying an afternoon stroll perusing scores of vendors.

On a weekend when eight people were killed and 11 injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd in Brownsville, Texas — the latest in years long occurrences in which dozens of bystanders have been killed and hundreds injured in at least 20 similar incidents, including four fatalities and 40 people with injuries when a driver careened into the 2015 homecoming parade at Oklahoma State University — quick thinking by Weber and McGuirt averted unimagined carnage.

Sallisaw Police Officer Wesley McGuirt (left) received cuts and bruises in the collision, while Sallisaw Police Capt. John Weber sustained a broken wrist. LYNN ADAMS | TIMES

“Captain Weber and Officer Wesley McGuirt were both working during Diamond Daze when they received information of a police pursuit coming towards our city,” Police Chief Terry Franklin said of Saturday’s chain of events. “The suspect vehicle was traveling at a very high rate of speed. The suspect vehicle ended up traveling north on Oak Street towards the Diamond Daze event.

“Captain Weber and Officer McGuirt were the last line of defense before the suspect vehicle would have entered the Diamond Daze event area. Captain Weber at that time decided that they didn’t have any other choices besides disabling the suspect vehicle by driving straight into it head-on, which he did, stopping the suspect vehicle, preventing it from entering the event which would have caused massive casualties.

“As chief of police, I am beyond proud of these two officers for the quick response and action that they took. I personally know that it wouldn’t have mattered what officers with this department that were put in that situation, they would have reacted the same way as Captain Weber and Officer McGuirt,” Franklin wrote on social media.

Weber sustained a broken wrist in the crash, and McGuirt had cuts and bruises.

Diamond Daze is the biggest event on the chamber of commerce calendar, and drew as many as 8,000 people last year.

Franklin praised Weber and McGuirt, saying they “went above and beyond” and “stood between good and bad” with their action. “Every day you guys are my heroes.”

Sequoyah County Sheriff Larry Lane Jr., whose deputies were also involved in the pursuit, formally thanked and commended Weber “for his life-saving actions.”

“Tons of kids were in the direct path of these idiots, driving at a very high rate of speed, heading directly towards the kids’ bounce house area of the festival, with no regards for anyone’s life or safety. I was just a few feet away when they hit John head-on. Captain Weber didn’t hesitate to put himself in harms way, to protect his townspeople. You’re a lifesaver today,” Lane said in a social media tribute.

The pursuit by sheriff’s deputies began about 1:30 p.m. when deputies initiated a traffic stop for moving violations east of Roland. After the stop and as deputies were exiting their vehicle, the Hyundai sped off, initially traveling through Roland, running vehicles off the road and attempting to ram other vehicles.

The chase then continued onto I-40 westbound. At the rest area, however, the suspect vehicle crossed the median and drove westbound in the eastbound lanes against traffic, at speeds up to 120 mph, according to Lane.

After exiting I-40 and traveling east on U.S. 64, the Hyundai turned onto a county road and continued at “a very high rate of speed.”

Deputies tried to run the vehicle off the road on multiple occasions, Lane said at a Monday press conference. One time the vehicle did leave the roadway, resulting in a flat tire, but the vehicle got back on the road and the chase continued.

“Suspects were traveling north on Oak Street, coming right into the Diamond Daze festival area. In this particular area, there were a bunch of bounce arounds set up with a bunch of children. It was obvious they weren’t going to slow down or stop. If it hadn’t been for Captain Weber and Officer McGuirt making the decision that they did to intercept [the vehicle], we’d be here talking about casualties, lots of them,” Franklin said at Monday’s press conference.

Franklin said the fleeing vehicle was exceeding 50 mph, “maybe 60,” when the head-on collision occurred.

The three men in the Hyundai were from Florida, “and I don’t think they knew the area,” Franklin said, noting that all downtown streets were blocked and closed for Diamond Daze.

Carlton Rucker, 37, of Plantation, Fla., was the driver of the vehicle, and passengers were Shawn Hyman, 34, of Florida, and Courtney Walker, 35, of Dania Beach, Fla.

Rucker and Walker were arrested and booked into Sequoyah County Jail, and Lane said they are facing a laundry list of charges. They are being held without bond pending an arraignment in district court scheduled for this afternoon.

Hyman was transported by First Flight to St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa, where he was admitted in stable condition with leg injuries. Lane said he will also face multiple charges when he is released from the hospital.

“This incident could have been much worse than what it was Saturday,” City Manager Keith Skelton said Monday. “I’m proud of what Captain Weber and Officer McGuirt did. It definitely saved at least a lot of injuries, possibly lives as well. This community has always been very proud of its police department and its police officers. Every day when they go to work, they know they may have to make a decision that will affect lives that day. Saturday, they had to.”

Each year, Diamond Daze attracts thousands of people to downtown Sallisaw.

Skelton said if Weber and McGuirt hadn’t taken the action they took, “the outcome would have been much different. I don’t even want to think about what could have happened. I’m just glad they did what they did, and they prevented them from getting up into the festival.”

McGuirt, who has been with Sallisaw Police Department for eight months and is currently in the police academy, said he, Weber and a third officer were on foot patrol at Diamond Daze when they learned of the pursuit.

“We got an alert from the sheriff’s office through our dispatch that county was in pursuit of a vehicle in the Muldrow/Roland area and was headed westbound toward Sallisaw,” McGuirt said at Monday’s press conference. SPD was charged with blocking access to the city from I-40, but the suspect vehicle managed to leave I-40 and enter the city limits. “At that point, we went to go get into the unit. That’s when Captain Weber sat back on Cherokee [Avenue] and we were going to be the last line of defense.

“We took the oath to protect and serve our community. We’re just out here doing what we’re supposed to do, and that’s what we signed up for when we wanted to be cops. We want to protect the people, and I think we really did that,” McGuirt said.

Weber was secure in his decision to collide with the fleeing vehicle in order to safeguard those at the festival.

“There were stop sticks out, and by listening to the events that were happening, we knew that we were going to be the last line of defense,” Weber said Monday. “We did everything that we could to allow them to give up and stop the car. However, they didn’t, so we had to take action.”

He said safety briefings are held regularly, so they were prepared to take action when necessary.

“We have to be ready for any situation that happens. As we may have only had split seconds to decide what was going to happen, we’ve already had this scenario played over and over — what if this happens,” said Weber, who has been with SPD for 21 years.

“I’d never done anything like that before. I just knew that the action we took had to be swift, and we had to make that decision immediately. Based on the totality of the circumstances and the information we received, I knew that was the only thing we could do to make them stop their action.

“We definitely felt the hand of God on us that day to give us the courage and also to go home safely.”

In addition to the sheriff’s office and SPD, agencies also involved in the pursuit and aftermath included Roland Police Department, Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Pafford EMS.