By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 27-year-old homeless man has been jailed on $5,000 bail on charges of punching a Stillwater police officer in the chest and biting another officer on the arm while they were trying to arrest him for allegedly vandalizing a statue in the front yard of a law firm on Duck Street.
Nicholas Christian Kenrick, who was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon, could be incarcerated for as long as 11 years and fined $1,500 if convicted of a three-count charge filed last week, court records show.
Kenrick was arrested at 11:45 am on Sept. 25, about three hours after Stillwater Police Officer Michael Busenius was sent to a law firm for a vandalism investigation, according to his affidavit filed Friday.
An employee reported that “someone had vandalized the butterfly statue in the front yard of the law firm,” the affidavit said.
Surveillance footage showed “a white male in a brown or dark-colored shirt and black pants appearing to scream and yell at the building,” on July 23 beginning around 7:55 pm, the affidavit said.
“The footage further shows that male punching the sides of the building and at least one of the windows but not leaving any damage to the building. The footage shows that male grab the butterfly statue and bend it and push on it until it breaks free from its base.
“The male then picks up the butterfly statue and throws it into the parking lot to the north of the law firm before departing,” at about 7:58 pm, the affidavit said.
After the video was sent to other Stillwater police officers, the suspect was identified as Kenrick, the affidavit alleged.
Officer James Droescher “told me that one day prior to the vandalism of the statue by Nicholas, he had photographed him wearing the same clothing or extremely similar clothing in reference to an arson investigation on 7/22/24,” Officer Busenius alleged in his affidavit.
“A short time after speaking with Officer Droescher, Officer Alley contacted me via radio and advised me that Nicholas was walking in the 200 block of E. Hall of Fame,” Officer Busenius wrote in his affidavit.
When contacted and asked if he remembered vandalizing the statue, Kenrick “refused to acknowledge me or respond to me at all,” Officer Busenius alleged in his affidavit.
“I told Nicholas that he was under arrest for the vandalism and reached down and grabbed him by his left arm.
Nicholas immediately pulled his left arm toward his chest and struck me in the chest with a balled-up closed fist. Nicholas struck me again in the chest with a closed fist and Officer Droescher and I pushed him to the ground on his side,” Officer Busenius alleged in his affidavit.
“As the altercation continued, Officer Droescher was on the ground on his right side on Nicholas’s right side as he rolled to his stomach. I heard Officer Droescher say that Nicholas was biting him on the arm.
“I grabbed Nicholas by his hair and yanked his head away from Officer Droescher as Officer Droescher delivered multiple strikes to Nicholas’s face to attempt and stop Nicholas from biting him. Nicholas continued to roll, and I used a pressure point control technique on the pressure point located at the bottom corner of the left side of his jaw. I pressed down on that point hard, attempting to secure Nicholas’s head to the ground so he could no longer bite anyone.
“Nicholas was yelling at us to not touch him and that he was going to kill us as the altercation was going on. I heard Officer Alley announce that he was going to use OC spray on Nicholas. Officer Alley applied OC spray to Nicholas’s face, and I was able to change positions and control his lower body and legs somewhat as Officer Droescher was gaining control of Nicholas’s right arm.
“I saw a handcuff placed on Nicholas’s right wrist, but his left arm was still under his body, and he would not place it behind his back. I drew my taser and placed it against Nicholas’s side and told him to place his arm behind his back or he would be tased. Nicholas placed his other hand behind his back, and it was also secured in handcuffs,” Officer Busenius alleged in his affidavit.
