Lawyer: Oklahoma lawmaker ‘shocked’ by assault complaint
OKLAHOMA CITY — A Republican state senator from Oklahoma accused of forcefully grabbing an Uber driver and kissing her neck while she drove him to a hotel is “shocked” by the driver’s allegations, the lawmaker’s attorney said Thursday.
The driver reported the incident to Oklahoma City police June 28, two days after she says it happened, by flagging down a police officer at a convenience store a few blocks from the state capitol.
Attorney Robert Don Gifford confirmed to The Associated Press that his client, state Sen. Bryce Marlatt of Woodward, is the person named in a redacted police report that details the Uber driver’s complaint of the June 26 incident. Gifford said Marlatt was unaware of the driver’s complaint until Marlatt was contacted by Uber.
“The senator was shocked by the allegations,” Gifford said. “He wants to get to the bottom of this, and that’s why he’s gotten us involved, to contact Uber and figured out what happened.”