Broken Arrow PD’s ‘car net’ stops low-speed chase

By John Dobberstein, Editor

You might have heard about a “dragnet” deployed by police to find a suspect, but Broken Arrow officers have another kind of net used to stop criminals in their tracks.

A Broken Arrow Police Department patrol vehicle deployed a “car net” Thursday afternoon to stop a man accused of pointing a gun at a food truck owner in Tulsa.

The Tulsa Police Department says the owner was setting up in the 8100 block of East 68th Street when a white van approached. The owner thought the driver was simply an early customer.

But, according to Tulsa police, as the van passed by the driver pointed a black semi-automatic handgun out of the passenger window without saying a word and then drove recklessly through a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Tulsa police located the van at 11800 East 61st Street and witnessed the driver, Reginald Fulsom, failing to yield to lights and sirens, and a slow-speed pursuit was initiated.

The suspect led officers into Broken Arrow, where BAPD joined the chase.

“BAPD has a big net on the front of some of its cars called the ‘grappler.’ When the police car got close enough, BAPD moved in and grappled the van,” the Tulsa Police Department said.

After a brief standoff, during which officers deployed pepper balls to encourage the suspect to exit the van, Fulsom exited the vehicle and was taken into custody without incident. It was unclear Thursday afternoon what Fulsom would be charged with.

“Big thanks to BAPD and their car net. It’s like something you would see on the Batmobile,” TPD said in a Facebook post.