OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma City Police say a man is in Oklahoma County Jail after allegedly assaulting an Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) employee with yard tools.
Police say it happened July 24 in the 9100 block of North Military Avenue. An ONG employee told an officer that responded to the scene that while he was working on a job in the area, suspect Chris Jordan became aggressive towards him.
Police say Jordan began to punch the ONG employee, claiming he knew him from college.
"The worker there indicated he had never met this man before and had no idea who he was," said Master Sergeant Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department.
Police say the employee was able to get some distance away from the man when Jordan picked up a garden hoe and started swinging it around.
"Rather unusual event," said Knight. "You don't always see a utility worker like this getting attacked, but for whatever reason, something set the man off and he decided he was going to attack this guy."
An affidavit says Jordan was screaming he was going to "beat [the employee's] head in" and if the employee came into his yard he was going to "kill him." The affidavit further details that an Oklahoma City employee intervened and used pepper spray on Jordan after Jordan climbed into the bed of their truck and starting throwing things at both of the employees.
The ONG employee also said during the incident Jordan made a statement towards his grandmother that he was going to slit her throat while she slept.
Jordan is being held in the Oklahoma County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
News 4 reached out to ONG and received the following statement from a spokesperson:
Safety is our number one core value. The safety of our people, first and foremost. That’s why our first concern is for our employees and their well-being. We will continue to cooperate with local law enforcement as part of its investigation in what we hope is an isolated event.
We are also thankful to the City of Oklahoma City employee who came to our employee's aid during the incident.
Although cases like this are rare, we have systems and procedures to promote a safe work environment and reduce risks, including de-escalation training.
Oklahoma Natural Gas Spokesperson
