Claremore Daily Progress

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June 4, 2010

Details emerging about girl killed by Catoosa police car

Older man walking with teenage girl on dark street has police suspicious

Zack Stoycoff Staff Reporter

CATOOSA — Police are questioning a 54-year-old man from Siloam Springs, Ark., in connection with the death of a 16-year old Broken Arrow girl who was struck and killed by a Catoosa police car while walking with him on an unlit road early Friday morning.

Police said the man, Brian Metzker, was with Jamie Lee Slaven in the 18800 block of Pine Street around 5:15 a.m. when Catoosa police officer Steven Treat swerved and struck Slaven as she tried to jump out of the way.

Metzker told police he was taking Slaven to feed his dogs at a mobile home park where he was temporarily living and had just met the girl that night. Slaven’s cell phone had a text message from her foster mother telling her to come home, police said.

“It always raises suspicions when you’ve got a 54-year-old running around with a 16-year old,” Catoosa police Lt. John Blish said. “We’re still in the preliminary stages of figuring out what was going on.”

Treat, who was on routine patrol, has been put on paid leave as the department conducts an investigation, but Catoosa Mayor Rita Lamkin said she anticipates no disciplinary action.

“This was just a freaky morning,” Lamkin said Friday. “That’s a bad place to be walking at 5:15 in the morning.”

The area of the accident — just west of 193rd Avenue in Catoosa — is hilly and the road is narrow, she said. There had been plans to expand the road and install lighting but budget concerns stalled the project.

“When you top those hills you cannot see until you’re there,” she said. “Officer Treat did everything he could to avoid colliding into them.”

Metzker and Slaven were walking east in the eastbound lane when Treat swerved into the westbound lane. Metzker stepped off the road, but Slaven jumped into the path of Treat’s car.

Treat’s airbags did not deploy, indicating the collision occurred at a low speed.

Police said Slaven was legally in the custody of her older brother, who had just returned from active duty with the military on Thursday. She was staying with foster parents and was due to be reunited with her brother shortly.

Police did not say they had charged or detained Metzker as of Friday. Records indicate he has no prior convictions.

Hired in July 2009, Lamkin said Treat is a “capable officer” with years of training and a good record.



Staff Writer Joy Hampton contributed to this story.

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