Tecumseh Police Report: Arrestee Snaps Patrol Car Camera Cable
On Feb. 11, around 7:30 pm, Tecumseh Police Officer Dakota Castle responded to a domestic in progress.
Upon arrival, Castle found Steven Murdock in the backseat of a parked car, according to the police report Castle filed.
“I observed Steven (Murdock) to be highly intoxicated,” Castle wrote in his report.
He arrested Murdock for public intoxication.
The Tecumseh Fire Department came and treated a large cut on Murdock’s finger, which Murdock’s parents said was from when “he punched a brick wall” before Castle arrived, according to the report.
Castle then took Murdock to Pottawatomie County Safety Center, where he was told Murdock “needed to be medically cleared,” according to the report.
Murdock was then taken to SSM Health Shawnee.
“While waiting for a room the medical staff asked if we could wait outside due to (Murdock’s) behavior and other patients being present,” Castle wrote in his report.
Then Murdock was in the back of Castle’s patrol vehicle and was “moving around excessively,” according to the report.
When Castle opened the back door, he found that the “back seat camera wires were hanging down. One of the wires was snapped completely in half,” according to the report, and “the camera was no longer operating.”
After Murdock received medical treatment at SSM Health Shawnee, he was transported back to the safety center, where he was booked in for public intoxication along with destruction to city property.
According to the report, the rear camera video from Castle’s vehicle showed Murdock “reach up and begin pulling on the wire. The camera then shut off when the wire was snapped.”
Approximately one month earlier, on Jan. 7, around 9 pm, the same officer had arrested Murdock, also for an incident that began with public intoxication.
Castle “conducted a traffic stop on (a) vehicle at Gordon Cooper and Bob Crouch,” according to the report, where he arrested a driver, identified as Christine Stone, for driving under the influence of alcohol.
In the passenger seat he found Steven Murdock.
“Steven (Murdock) had red bloodshot eyes, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person, and slurring his words,” according to the report.
Castle asked him to exit the vehicle, and Murdock said no, according to the report. So, “I then told Steven (Murdock) to step out of the vehicle, and he was digging in Christine’s purse and asked why. I then opened the passenger door, grabbed Steven’s right arm, and assisted him out of the vehicle,” Castle wrote in his report.
He arrested Murdock for municipal public intoxication and handcuffed him.
As they went to Castle’s patrol vehicle, Murdock “began resisting and swinging his elbows sideways,” according to the report.
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Police Department’s Sergeant David Stepp and Castle put Murdock against the patrol vehicle and searched him.
“While I was searching the left side of Steven (Murdock), he grabbed onto my firearm and stated, ‘I got my hand on your gun right now.’ I yelled at Steven (Murdock) to let go, and he refused and tried to pull up on my firearm,” Castle wrote in his report.
The police officers “placed Steven (Murdock) onto the ground,” according to the report, and they landed in an area that had stickers, and Murdock was cut on the nose by one.
After finishing their search, CPN Police Department’s Officer Abbiss took Murdock to the Pottawatomie County Safety Center on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, obstructing an officer, and public intoxication.
Murdock had also pleaded guilty to assault and battery on an emergency medical technician several years earlier.
In a separate incident, Feb. 8, around 7:15 pm, Officer Jacob Niblett “received a request for a phone call from (a minor) about her little sister’s headphones,” according to a police report.
A phone location tracking feature was able to locate the Apple Airpods, and an individual was cited for petit larceny and possession of stolen property.
Additionally, the Tecumseh Police Department responded twice last month to reports of minors at Tecumseh Middle School possessing and/or distributing marijuana.
