OWASSO, Okla. — A routine traffic stop in Owasso turned into a chase Thursday when officers discovered a motorcyclist was wanted in Texas for sexual assault against a child.
The stop happened on northbound 169 near 76th Street North. When an officer ran the operator’s license, the rider came back as a wanted felon out of Texas.
WATCH: Owasso police chase ends at ‘crash out curve,’ suspect wanted for child sex assault arrested
Owasso police chase ends at ‘crash out curve,’ suspect wanted for child sex assault arrested
Owasso Police Captain Nick Boatman said the suspect tried to flee but couldn’t navigate a stretch of road locals call the “crash out curve,” near a Taco Bell.
KJRH
“We were happy to get this guy off the street. This all started as just a traffic stop. An officer saw a motorcycle that had some defective equipment on it, and when he went up to make contact, he got the operator’s license and ran him, and that operator came back wanted out of Texas for these heinous charges, one of them, which was sexual assault against a child,” Boatman said.
The suspect, 63-year-old John Roger Nichols, crashed into a fence at the curve before he could escape.
“In that mile comes a very known curve… if you make that curve you’re doing good, but if you miss it then you go straight into the fence, and that’s what happened,” Boatman said.
The curve has a long history of crashes in the area. Driver Eric Hamm said his son wrecked there a few years ago.
“Just came around the curve too fast and slipped off the road and took out the fence, and I think there were like two other cars that had taken out parts of the fence at the same time. It was just a big mess,” Hamm said.
When Hamm learned the most recent crash led to the arrest of someone wanted for hurting a child, his perspective on the notorious stretch of road changed.
OPD
“If it could help save a child, then hey, I’m all for it,” Hamm said.
Boatman said the curve’s reputation may have finally worked in the community’s favor.
“That curve gets a lot of bad publicity, but in this case, it turns out it was a good thing. We were happy that he at least was taken into custody,” Boatman said.
Nichols is now in custody. Owasso residents say they are grateful the dangerous curve finally did some good.
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Sharon Phillips is your Owasso reporter.
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