Officer Saves Lives, Stops Wrong-Way Driver On BA Expressway

Tuesday, September 23rd 2014, 7:23 pm

By: News On 6

The Broken Arrow police department is giving a big pat on the back to a Tulsa police officer, for saving lives on his way home from work.

Tulsa police officer Jason Hamm was on his way home from work just after midnight when something happened right in front of him that he never expected, on the Broken Arrow Expressway.

He topped a hill near the Lynn Lane exit and came face to face with a driver going the wrong way on the expressway, barreling right toward him, in his lane.

One thought ran through his head.

"Oh, I'm getting ready to have a head on collision,” Hamm said.

He swerved hard to get out of the way, then putting his own life at risk, did a U-turn, got behind the driver and flipped on his lights and sirens to stop her.

His lights also alerted other drivers to get out of the way.

"Yes, they're dodging us. Right as we got off the road, two, three, four more cars came over that hill. Could've easily been a really bad situation,” he said.

Hamm called for help and Broken Arrow officers showed up to work the call.

They arrested Sabrina Menefee on several counts, including not having a driver's license and driving under the influence.

"I know she admitted smoking meth earlier that day,” Hamm said.

He's glad he's the one who spotted her first and he was able to stop her before something terrible happened.

"Thinking wow, could've gone completely differently. I could not be going home tonight. Someone else could not be going home tonight. I'm just very thankful it turned out the way it did,” Hamm said.

Tulsa police said this is just another example of why it's good for officers to drive home their squad cars because had Hamm been in his personal vehicle, this could've had a much more tragic ending.