Officer Ron Jones is Under Investigation for Assault and Battery

SAND SPRINGS

A city police officer is under investigation for an alleged assault and battery while off duty at a Halloween weekend party west of Sand Springs.

The officer, identified as Ron Jones, an eight-year veteran of the Sand Springs Police Department, is now on paid suspension while the city conducts an internal affairs investigation.

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, meanwhile, is doing its own criminal investigation into the case and may soon forward its report to the prosecutor’s office for possible action.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Jeffrey Scott Youngblood, 37, of Sand Springs suffered a concussion and a broken nose during the party and required hospitalization for two days.

The incident occurred around 1 a.m. Nov. 2 at the 220th W. Avenue home of Joseph Christensen, another Sand Springs police officer.

There were other police officers at the party, and some of them have come forward as witnesses, officials said.

Authorities said there were indications that Youngblood may have been intoxicated at the party and may have have displayed some inappropriate conduct toward Jones’ girlfriend and the wife of another Sand Springs police officer.

When Jones interceded, a scuffle ensued, and Youngblood was apparently knocked to the floor. He was taken by private car to St. John Medical Center in Tulsa.

Sheriff’s Capt. John Bowman said detectives tried questioning Youngblood a few days later, but Youngblood was unable to remember what happened.

Youngblood could not be reached by the Tulsa World for his version of the events. Jones has yet to be questioned by the Sheriff’s Office.

However, once he is questioned, the report on the incident will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office, Bowman said.

Jones’ attorney, Scott Wood of Tulsa, said his client “was acting in self-defense in the altercation with Mr. Youngblood.”

“Mr. Jones regrets the incident, but feels justified in taking the action he did,” Wood said, adding that he expects the officer to be completely exonerated once the investigation is complete.

Assistant Police Chief Mike Carter said the complaint against the officer was filed on Nov. 2 and he was put on suspension with pay, which is a normal routine.