A routine eviction in Oklahoma City escalated into a dangerous confrontation when a tenant allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower against deputies, according to body-camera footage shared by the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. The incident occurred on August 11, inside a dimly lit, cluttered apartment.
Deputies arrived to enforce an eviction notice just before noon, where they encountered blockage at the door of Darron Dunn’s apartment. Oklahoma Housing Authority staff unlocked the door, but it remained obstructed. The deputies discovered the entrance barricaded with cables and an electric wheelchair.
Once inside, they found Dunn, age 61, in a bedroom. An incident report detailed he sprayed a deputy and a security officer with aerosol, igniting it to create a blaze. The video showed flames erupting, prompting officers to withdraw.
Authorities described the deputy’s experience of the ‘extreme heat’ as the fire surged about fifteen feet toward him. However, this was not the climax of the chaos.
Deputies then noticed a car battery with attached wires near Dunn and another wired device by the front door. The video depicted rising concern within the apartment.
“He’s got it hooked up to the battery!” an officer exclaimed. “Improvised device! Get out!” another advised.
The report revealed the device featured rows of butane lighter fluid and carburetor-cleaner aerosol cans bound together with bare wires. Evacuations of residents on the third and adjacent floors commenced as the sheriff’s tactical unit and bomb squad intervened.
Officers succeeded in disabling the connections on the cans and safely extracted Dunn from the apartment using his wheelchair. A spokesperson later clarified to Fox News Digital that bomb technicians assessed the wired device as unlikely to explode, though sparks or heating were possible if wires touched the battery terminal.
Dunn was transported first to a VA hospital due to health concerns and stress, then to a mental health facility. Charges against Dunn were filed in absentia, including assault with a dangerous weapon, possessing or threatening with an incendiary device, and obstructing an officer.
The Sheriff’s Office noted the emotional intensity often involved in eviction procedures, sometimes leading to volatile incidents. The spokesperson recalled a related event four years earlier when officers faced attacks during an eviction. Another incident occurred roughly a year before when a man attempted to ignite a deputy and subsequently set himself ablaze, resulting in his death.
Stepheny Price, Fox News Writer, covers Midwest and West Coast news, crime stories, and border security issues.