On a warm summer evening in Oklahoma City, the life of 32-year-old Jon Michael Sides, a white male, came to a sudden and violent end. On August 2, 2013, what began as an attempted traffic stop escalated into a high-speed motorcycle chase that would prove fatal. A Warr Acres police officer initiated the pursuit, attempting to pull over Sides for reasons that were not immediately made clear.
Sides, however, did not comply and instead fled, leading law enforcement on a chase that wound its way into the city limits of Oklahoma City.
The pursuit concluded on a dead-end street, where the events took a tragic turn. With his path blocked, Sides was shot multiple times by at least one of the pursuing officers. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer, or officers, involved in the shooting were subsequently placed on administrative leave, a standard protocol in such incidents, pending a full investigation into the use of deadly force. The specifics of what transpired in those final moments at the end of the road, and what prompted the officer to open fire, were not immediately released to the public.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was called in to take the lead on the case, a common procedure for officer-involved shootings to ensure an independent inquiry. The OSBI was tasked with gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, and compiling a comprehensive report of their findings. This report was to be submitted to the Canadian County District Attorney's office, which would then have the responsibility of reviewing the evidence and determining whether the officer's actions were justified under the law and if any charges would be filed. However, the final outcome of the OSBI's investigation and the District Attorney's ruling were not made publicly available in subsequent news reports, leaving the official conclusion of the investigation into the death of Jon Sides unclear. There have been no reports of any arrests or suspects in connection with this incident.
