HENRYETTA
A state trooper who was captured on video kicking a handcuffed woman faces a misdemeanor assault and battery charge.
Trooper Barry Jacob E. Rowland, 32, of Bixby has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the charge against him, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Chris West said.
Rowland has been a trooper since May 2006.
He was charged March 3 in Okmulgee County District Court. He is accused of repeatedly kicking Dana Michelle Walls, 32, of Tulsa on Nov. 21 while she lay handcuffed on the ground outside Carolina's Trail Club in Henryetta.
Calls to Rowland and his attorney, Gary James, were not returned.
District Attorney Tom Giulioli said Walls didn't file a complaint against Rowland. The charge stems from allegations made by other officers who responded to a call for assistance at the club that night.
The Highway Patrol oversaw the investigation, which includes statements from other troopers and Henryetta and Dewar police officers.
Giulioli said video from Rowland's patrol car and another trooper's vehicle shows Rowland kicking Walls in the chest at least three times.
Rowland claims that Walls spit on him and was drunk. Walls is charged in Okmulgee County District Court with public intoxication and placing bodily fluid on an officer.
Walls told The Oklahoman that she doesn't recall how many times Rowland kicked her, but she woke up in the county jail the next morning with large bruises.
"I didn't file a complaint because I figured I wasn't the first person this had happened to," she said. "I doubt I'll be the last. Besides, he's a cop. I figured nothing would probably happen if I did" file a complaint.
She said she didn't spit on Rowland but remembers him asking her several times on the way to jail why she did it.
"I kept telling him, 'I didn't spit on you,' " Walls said.
Giulioli said the video doesn't show Walls spitting on Rowland.
West would not release the patrol video to The Oklahoman, saying it is part of an ongoing investigation.
If convicted of the misdemeanor assault, Rowland could face as much as 90 days in jail and be fined as much as $1,000.
If Walls is convicted of spitting on Rowland, a felony, she could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison.
Giulioli said there are strict statutes protecting law enforcement officers.
"It may not seem fair, but I'm not the one that makes the laws," he said. "Take that up with the state Legislature."
Walls spent nearly a week in the county jail before posting $250 bond. Jail officials have no record of Rowland being booked into jail, although Giulioli said he should have been.
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