The victim of a brutal attack Wednesday in Oklahoma “miraculously” survived a flagpole through his head, but is expected to lose one eye.
According to the Tulsa Police Department, officers responded to the Sonic Drive-In on 81st Street South around 7:30 p.m. following reports of a stabbing.
They arrived to find a man with a flagpole planted in his head, still flying the Stars and Stripes.
Police indicated the pole had pierced the victim’s head “beneath his jaw and exited the other side of his head near his right temple area.”
Witnesses claimed they saw Clinton Collins charge the victim with the flagpole, then thrust it through his head.
Collins allegedly said, “That’s what he gets. He deserved it.”
TPD officer Danny Bean told KJRH-TV, “Like you’d see in a TV show or a horror movie, ran at him and stabbed him through the head. … Went through the bottom and out through the other side.”
Tulsa firefighters reportedly had to cut off a section of the flagpole in order to fit the conscious victim inside the ambulance.
The TPD said the victim is expected to “miraculously” survive his injuries, “but will likely lose an eye.”
Collins, reportedly a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, hung around until police arrived on the scene. He was arrested for allegedly maiming after former conviction of a felony, which could land him with more than life in prison.
Tulsan Tristen Catlin told KJRH that over the weekend, she saw a preview of what was to come at the Tulsa Hills shopping center.
“As we pull in, we just see him charge at the man who was sitting on the ground by the McDonald’s,” said Catlin.
The man she suspected may have been Collins was “doing a stabbing action over and over and the guy stood up and was trying to get him to go away,” said Catlin.
Catlin indicated she was shocked to see the same man in the news days later and to learn that he had allegedly followed through with his threat.
The Associated Press reported that owing to Collins’ Indian status and a 2020 Supreme Court ruling barring Oklahoma prosecutors from pursuing criminal cases against tribal citizens in various parts of the state, it is presently unclear whether he will be tried in tribal court or U.S. District Court.
The U.S. District Court in Oklahoma had reportedly not listed a case against the suspect as of Thursday afternoon.
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