The Oklahoman

Candidate for state Senate has arrest record

- BY NOLAN CLAY Staff Writer nclay@oklahoman.com

An Oklahoma City Democrat running for state Senate pleaded guilty in 2013 to domestic abuse in the presence of a child, records show. Noah Ynclan, 43, told The Oklahoman there is more to the story and “that has been put behind us.”

“That has nothing to do with my ... outlook and wishes for the state of Oklahoma to be turned back in the right direction,” he said.

Ynclan was arrested April 1, 2013. His girlfriend told police he pushed her to the floor of his Oklahoma City apartment, jumped on her back and hit her in the head, according to police and court records.

The girlfriend said she was holding their son, then 1. She said they were arguing because she caught him texting, “Happy Birthday,” to his wife, according to police and court records.

At the time, Ynclan and his wife were separated but had made efforts to reconcile, records show. A 2015 divorce case is still pending in Tulsa.

The victim had a swollen bloody nose, puffy eyes and three knots on the back of her head, a police officer noted in a report.

Ynclan was charged in Oklahoma County District Court and pleaded guilty to the misdemeano­r on Nov. 4, 2013, records

show. He was sentenced to three years on probation.

Ynclan was the last of nine candidates to file for the vacant Senate District 45 seat. He is the only one with an arrest in the last 10 years, a review of records by

The Oklahoman found. Senate District 45 stretches across far south Oklahoma City from Mustang to Valley Brook. Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, vacated the seat in April, abruptly resigning after coming under criminal investigat­ion over his campaign funds.

The special primary election for the seat is Aug. 8. The special general election is Nov. 14.

The only other Democrat in the race is Steven Vincent, a dispatcher at the Oklahoma City Police Department for the last 10 years.

“I have taken literally thousands of domestic violence calls,” Vincent, 51, of Mustang, told The Oklahoman. “I have heard women scream in terror and plead for help as their abusers rampage in the background. I have no sympathy for those who assault women or children. In my opinion, the men who do this are cowards and one of the worst kind of criminals.”

Ynclan and his girlfriend reunited shortly after the 2013 incident. A judge dropped a protective order against Ynclan at her request two months later. “This is an isolated incident and both parties are seeking steps to ensure it does not happen again,” the girlfriend told the judge.

Ynclan said he and his girlfriend are still together. He described her as his fiancee.

About the 2013 incident, he said his fiancee has issues and is seeking counseling. About his guilty plea, he said, “Sometimes falling on your sword and trying to resolve something ... expeditiou­sly ... is like the best way to handle something versus dragging other personal issues or matters up when it comes to somebody you love.”

His sentence in the domestic abuse case was the type that means he doesn’t have a criminal conviction because he completed probation successful­ly.

Ynclan also was arrested in May 2012 after an argument with the same girlfriend, records show.

Ynclan said he is a combat veteran who has served in the Army, Air Force and Oklahoma Army National Guard. Ynclan said he currently works as a contractin­g vendor manager for Cox Communicat­ions. His work in the past has included time as a private armed security guard and a short stint as a state juvenile probation officer, records show. He was fired by the Office of Juvenile Affairs on Sept. 22, 2010, after six months there, records show.

Asked why he is running for the Senate, he said, “After a life of selfless service and seeing the situation that our state has ... found itself in over the last few years, I pretty much kind of had this call to service ... again.”

On his campaign website, he said, “Oklahoma needs a regular everyday citizen who has experience­d hardships and ... can relate to the day-to-day struggles of the majority of the people from the state of Oklahoma.”

Seven Republican­s filed for the vacant Senate seat.

From Mustang are Kerry Pettingill, 58, a former chief of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and Scott Harris, 34, an attorney. From Yukon is Mathew Hamrick, 36, the chief purchasing officer at the Oklahoma Department of Environmen­tal Quality.

From Oklahoma City are Diane Means, 56, a physician; Paul Rosino, 54, a real estate agent; Duane Smith, 62, a water resources consultant; and Brian Walters, 41, the owner of an estate settlement service company.

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Noah Ynclan

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