Oklahoma City
AP
 — 

Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general dismissed a felony assault charge Friday against a police officer who slammed a 71-year-old man to the ground, breaking his neck, during an argument over a traffic ticket.

Gentner Drummond announced that he had intervened in the case and dismissed the aggravated assault and battery charge against Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Joseph Gibson, 28.

Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna charged Gibson this month after body-worn camera video released by police showed Gibson throwing Lich Vu to the ground after Vu touched Gibson during the argument following a non-injury traffic accident October 27.

“As attorney general, I will not permit Oklahoma police officers to face criminal prosecution for conduct adhering to their training,” Drummond said in a statement. “While the outcome of this incident is unquestionably devastating for Mr. Vu and his family, I do not believe the officer exhibited criminal intent.”

Prosecutors said Vu suffered a brain bleed and a broken neck and eye socket.

Behenna said in a statement that she was “surprised and disappointed that Attorney General Gentner Drummond took this case away from my office and the citizens of Oklahoma County.”

She said previously that after evaluating the case, prosecutors determined Gibson’s actions were an unreasonable use of force.

Drummond said Vu should not have touched Gibson during the argument.

“No individual is allowed to hit or push an officer, regardless of whether he or she doesn’t understand English well or comes from a different culture,” Drummond said. “The simple truth is, this unfortunate incident never would have occurred if Mr. Vu had kept his hands to himself.”

The use of force prompted outrage in Oklahoma City’s Vietnamese community, particularly since the video shows Vu had difficulty communicating with Gibson during the interaction and appeared not to understand what the officer was telling him.

Gibson’s attorney, former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, said Drummond’s decision to drop the charge was “well reasoned and correct.”

Mark Nelson, president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, said no officer wants to see someone injured and he hopes Vu makes a swift and full recovery.

“However, our members often have to make split-second decisions, and they cannot control the outcome of every situation,” Nelson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, when someone resists law enforcement, they increase the risk of harm to themselves or others.”

In 2022, Oklahoma saw some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections in the nation, specifically in syphilis and chlamydia. Now in 2024, the state has made great strides and Oklahoma is seeing improvement in trends.

According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States saw a decrease in cases for a majority of notifiable STIs between 2023 and 2024.

Sexually transmitted infections, such as syphilis and gonorrhea, are notifiable diseases, which means health providers are required by law to report positive tests to state or local public health officials. This data is then used by officials to track and prevent outbreaks. However, some STIs can remain asymptomatic, and those not regularly getting tested can unknowingly pass on an infection to a partner.

Here’s a look at how Oklahoma has progressed in STI rates through 2024:

Chlamydia 

Oklahoma saw 18,729 cases of chlamydia, the state’s most prevalent STI, from the start of 2023 to mid-December. This places the state near the top 10 states in the nation for highest Chlamydia rates at No. 11. 

According to CDC data, the number of cases in Oklahoma decreased 44% in 2024 to 10,461 statewide. This moves Oklahoma to the middle of the nation’s positivity rates and the lowest in the region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

The drop is not singular to Oklahoma, either. All states, except South Carolina, saw a decrease in new cases, with over a quarter of a million fewer cases in 2024.

Syphilis

Oklahoma was previously a leader in syphilis cases across the nation in 2022. But new Oklahoma cases have been cut in half compared to just last year. 

The CDC reports that in 2023 there were 1,112 primary and secondary cases of the infection and 78 for the congenital variant. However, by the end of 2024, both numbers had dropped substantially. Congenital syphilis cases dropped to 50 cases throughout the year, while the primary and secondary cases dropped over 50% to 517 total cases.

The nation’s year-end data also reflects this as well. Only four states weren’t a part of the national decrease. There were almost 20,000 fewer cases in 2024 than in 2023 for primary and secondary syphilis and roughly 1,200 fewer cases for the genital variant.

Gonorrhea

Similarly, the nation’s gonorrhea cases have decreased by over 100,000, with all states reporting lower numbers than in 2023. Oklahoma reported 6,774 new infections to the CDC in 2023 and will report 3,842 new cases in 2024. 

Similar decreases were seen around the nation, with the total number of cases dropping from almost 600,000 in 2023 to 484,453 in 2024.

Hepatitis B

The CDC tracks three different forms of Hepatitis B: acute, chronic, and perinatal.

Acute Hepatitis B is the only CDC-reported STD that saw an increase nationwide, increasing about 150 cases. Oklahoma, however, did not contribute to the rise as the state fell from 19 cases to 4 throughout 2024.

The CDC has not published the nation’s chronic Hepatitis B cases for 2023. In Oklahoma, there were 213 reported positive cases in 2023. For comparison, the country reported 263 new cases just in the week ending Dec. 21, 2024. The Sooner state sits in the lower half of the country for total cases, while the country reaches 17,864.

Oklahoma did not contribute to any of the nation’s 7 Perinatal cases.

NORTH TEXAS – A Honduran man is accused of abducting a 22-year-old Haltom City woman at gunpoint, forcing her to withdraw money from a bank, and driving her more than 20 miles to an apartment complex where she escaped and summoned help, police said.

Eduardo Javier Ordonez Godoy, 35, of Honduras, was taken into custody when he was found inside her vehicle in Oklahoma City on Christmas Day, according to the Haltom City Police Department.

Police said Ordonez Godoy, who has “no known local address,” is facing aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery charges. He is being held at the Oklahoma County Detention Center, with an “active ICE detainer hold” due to his immigration status.

The woman’s abduction from Acacia Apartments, 5000 Denton Highway, in Haltom City occurred at about 4:45 a.m. Tuesday while she was walking to her vehicle, police said.

After threatening the woman and forcing her to withdraw an undisclosed amount of cash, police said Ordonez Godoy drove the victim 22 miles to Camden Apartments, 3900 Grapevine Mills Parkway, in Grapevine.

When she escaped, Ordonez Godoy fled in her vehicle, which police entered into law enforcement databases “with a note of the violent nature of the offense,” although the victim wasn’t physically harmed, according to police.

Ordonez Godoy was apprehended in her vehicle with evidence connected to the offense in the 2100 block of SW 39th Street on Wednesday in Oklahoma City, police said.

In addition to the Haltom City charges, the Oklahoma City Police Department has also charged Ordonez Godoy with unauthorized use of a vehicle; use of a firearm while committing a felony; receiving, possessing, or concealing stolen property; and carrying or possessing a firearm by an illegal alien, the news release said.

The investigation is continuing, police said, and additional charges may be filed.