Tulsa officer stabbed in face while arresting man accused of indecent exposure

A Tulsa Police officer is in the hospital, recovering from emergency surgery, after a man stabbed the officer in the face so hard, the knife broke.

It happened as officers were trying to arrest Scorpio Flynn, who was accused of exposing himself in public near 41st and Garnett Wednesday night.

"We are extremely fortunate that wound wasn't a little higher, a little lower, we could have lost an officer," said Captain Richard Meulenberg with Tulsa Police.

What happened?

A liquor store owner called police around 7 p.m. Wednesday, saying the suspect, Scorpio Flynn was exposing himself behind her business and urinating. The owner told police she's had issues with Flynn in the past. Police got there and found Flynn in the middle of the road and he began yelling at the officers.

Police say they were trying to take Flynn into custody and get him off the road. Police say they had no idea Flynn had a knife.

"He didn't have the knife in his hands at the time. So, we are trying to talk the situation through, then suddenly, like lightning, he just stabbed the officer. It happened that quickly," said Meulenberg.

Police say the officer tased Flynn but it didn't work, then another officer tased him and it didn't work either. Several officers eventually got him to drop the knife and arrested him.

Captain Meulenberg says officers can face danger, in a split second. Flynn told officers he stabbed the officer on purpose.

"There are those out there that mean to do us harm. If they mean to do us harm, they will probably will do harm to someone else too. These things happen so quickly. The officer didn't even have time to respond given the distance," said Meulenberg.

Flynn's Criminal History:

Records show Flynn has been arrested twice before for assaulting first responders, but those cases were dismissed for mental competency issues.

He was charged with indecent exposure several years ago, but pled guilty to a lesser charge.