Published: December 31, 2007 09:12 am            

Man allegedly endangers child

ADA—A man who reportedly used his 20 month-old daughter as a human shield to avoid being tazed was charged with felony child endangerment.

Wendell Jason Mann, 33, Ada, was charged Thursday in Pontotoc County District Court. According to a court affidavit filed by Pontotoc County Undersheriff Joe Glover, Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department received a call from security officers about a disturbance at the Lazer Zone Family Fun Center on Latta Road Friday, Dec. 21. Lighthorse Police dispatched two officers to the scene. Glover was close by and also responded.

Glover said when he arrived, he met with Lighthorse police, county deputies and troopers from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol who were already on the scene. Glover spoke with Lynde Mann who told Glover she had just been assaulted by her husband Jason Mann. She told Glover she was at the Lazer Zone to meet with her husband so he could visit with their daughter. dler and ran for the exit doors, according to the report.

Lynde Mann said she was concerned for her daughter’s safety, so she followed her husband in an effort to stop him. When she confronted him, her husband pulled her hair and punched her in the face and head, according to Lynde Mann. She said a Lazer Zone security guard came to her aid and stopped her husband from continuing the attack.

Glover said the security guard confirmed Lynde Mann’s account of the incident. The security guard told Glover during the altercation he was also punched in the face by Jason Mann. The security guard said he was going to deploy his Tazer weapon but did not do so because Jason Mann was holding the child with one hand “like a football” to use as a human shield, the report said.

Lynde Mann told Glover she witnessed her husband yell at the security guard and hold the child out with one arm outstretched away from his body in order to keep the security guard from using his Tazer gun.

“I think the security guard did an excellent job handling the situation,” Glover said. “He showed great restraint by not deploying his Tazer because of the child.”

Glover and Lighthorse police observed Lynde Mann’s ear and noted it was very red. She told Glover that her husband hit her there, the report said. Although the incident occurred on Chickasaw Nation property, both the victim and the suspect are not tribal members, so the crime falls under State jurisdiction, according to the report. Jason Mann was arrested and taken to the Pontotoc County jail. Bond was set at $1,500.

        

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