Oklahoma Co. Reserve Deputy Critically Injured After Bethany Crash

An Oklahoma County reserve deputy was badly injured after police said a driver did not stop at a red light and hit his vehicle.

There were six cars involved in the crash.

Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel is asking everyone to keep the reserve deputy in their prayers, and he is also calling on deputies out on patrol to use this as another reason to stop and cite drivers who intentionally run red lights, according to a Facebook post.

What happened at the Bethany intersection to cause a six-car crash Friday morning is still under investigation, but Bethany police said preliminary reports show a juvenile driver didn't stop for a red light, hitting Larry Butler's vehicle.

Butler is a reserve deputy for the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office.

“He has been someone who has been very valuable to our office – all of our reserves are very important to what we do here,” Oklahoma County sheriff's office spokesman Mark Opgrande said.

Butler was not on-duty at the time and was in his personal vehicle during the crash.

He's the second member of the sheriff's office family in just a few months to fall victim to a red-light-runner.

In October, authorities said this deputy was hit by a teen who ran the light near NW 178 and May.

Through the end of the month, the sheriff's office will have zero tolerance for the violation as part of its annual Red Lights for Christmas campaign. 

“It’s Christmas time, people want to spend time with their families. We hate to see anyone who is going to spend time with their families in the hospital. It’s an easily preventable thing. All you have to do is when you see a red light is stop. And in this case, they didn’t,” Opgrande said.

The juvenile was released to his parents at the scene, Bethany police said.

At last check Monday, Butler was still in critical condition.

His family indicated through Facebook posts that he has shown some improvement.