After months of controversy, the man responsible for obstructing an officer and releasing the police footage to an Oklahoma City television station pleaded guilty Thursday.
Weatherford restaurant owner Derrick Duane Barker pleaded guilty to the charges of obstructing an officer, attempt or escape from officer, and failure to illuminate registration plate.
With those charges, Barker could serve as much as two years and 10 days and/or pay a fine up to $1,500. Barker’s sentencing has been scheduled for April 7.
During the hearing, the state dismissed the resisting arrest charge.
Barker released footage to a television station in Oklahoma City in attempt to get the charges against him dropped.
In the video which aired on live television, Barker was shown not abiding to requests from the arresting officer to stay in his car and was eventually tased and pulled to the ground. He was charged with obstructing an officer, resisting arrest, attempt or escape from officer, and failure to illuminate registration plate.
In the video, Barker said he believed the police over-stepped.
In response, another partial video was released on Facebook by a friend of the arresting WPD officer Ryan Hetherington and WPD Lt. Chris Cote shared the video post. This video was longer than the video which aired on an Oklahoma City television station. This video shows Barker immediately getting out of his vehicle as he was stopped by Hetherington. The video also shows Barker not complying with Hetherington’s requests which later led to Barker being tased by WPD officers.