OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An Oklahoma City police officer who was a star football player in high school and college is accused of sexually assaulting at least six women during traffic stops and investigators are looking into whether there are more victims.
Daniel Ken Holtzclaw, 27, was arrested Thursday on complaints including rape, sexual battery and indecent exposure. Formal charges could be filed against the former Enid High School and Eastern Michigan University football player by Aug. 29, District Attorney David Prater said.
Police Chief Bill Citty said at a news conference Thursday that all of the victims were black women between the ages of 34 and 58. The chief said Holtzclaw would stop the women while he was working, force them to expose themselves, fondle them and in at least one instance had intercourse with a woman.
The investigation began after a woman complained to police June 18, the chief said. Holtzclaw was placed on leave that day.
“We started the investigation and we started looking at traffic stops he had made throughout the previous months to try to identify and initiate contact with females that we knew he had stopped during that period of time … to see if they had been sexually assaulted,” Citty said.