Source: City of Broken Arrow
A city of Broken Arrow employee is being credited with helping authorities find a suspect in a domestic disturbance who was hiding out in a field.
Dump truck driver Will Remington was picking up a load of ag base and delivering it to a road project in the Events Park Monday morning. He frequently travels Washington Street east of County Line Road while working on the infrastructure for the new Sunset at Broken Arrow amphitheater project.
Remington saw something shiny that stood out to him in the tree line of an undeveloped field north of the Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow campus.
Apparently the early morning sun shone on something in the field, casting a bright reflection. “After all this time, I’ve never seen anything back there, so I thought that was odd,” he said.
Chad Hickman, wanted for an alleged domestic assault, had parked his RV in the field sometime Sunday following the incident. The RV was covered by a camouflaged tarp and parked in the tree line.
“It’s the only time Remington could have seen this because the entire RV was covered up by the tarp, except for about two feet,” said NSU Police Officer Douglas Driver. “The way the sun was up, it happened to catch his eye. He had a 10-minute window to see it. Because when he came back 10 minutes later, he couldn’t see anything but a tarp.”
Remington stopped by the NSU campus and made Officer Driver aware of what he had seen.
“I found the guy a mile and a half north of here. Once I found him, he had warrants, and I arrested him. He kind of knew it was coming,” Driver said.
Authorities said Hickman had a no-bond warrant for domestic assault and battery in Muskogee County.
Hickman himself was also in danger in the RV, police said. He had no water or an air conditioner, and the heat was excessive, especially under the tarp. Driver estimates the man had been there 12-14 hours.
“He was already showing signs of heat exhaustion, and the sweat was almost stopping,” Driver said. “If he’d have tried to stay there all day or night, who knows? As hot as it got, it could have really been bad. He was out in a literal sauna with that tarp, trying to hide everything. It was stifling hot.
“If Mr. Remington hadn’t taken it upon himself to see it and know something was wrong and take the time to come in and say something, who knows what would’ve happened to this guy?” he said. “Will has no clue how much good he did that day. I don’t think he would have even made it through the night.”
Assistant City Manager Kenny Schwab is proud of the effort that Remington demonstrated on Monday morning.
“Will’s actions go above and beyond the call of duty. He was alert and acted on his instinct. The results far exceed any expectations. I am amazed at his thoughtfulness,” Schwab said. “He is a great example of who our employees are.”
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