Rodeo judge severely beaten

GUTHRIE—An investigation is underway into an incident where a ranch rodeo event judge was severely beaten and had three teeth knocked out after judging a competition at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie.

Thomas Dustin Morgan, who competed as part of the Choctaw Nation Ranch team, is listed as a suspect in the assault. Logan County Undersheriff Troy Dykes said investigators have some good leads and are actively investigating but declined to discuss how many people may have been involved in the assault. No charges had been filed as of early Friday afternoon.

The victim, Kent Crouch, whose home is in Kansas, told The Oklahoman he had finished judging the ranch rodeo competition the night of Aug. 24 and was walking across the parking lot toward his pickup sometime around midnight when the assault occurred.

"As I was almost out to my vehicle, one of the (Choctaw Nation team) members hollered at me and he called me by name," Crouch said. "He said, 'Hey, can we talk?' And I said, 'sure.' I doubt we talked for 15 seconds and the next

thing I knew I was waking up from being knocked out with three of my teeth knocked out of my head, cuts all over my mouth and below my mouth, a big knot on the back of my head and the left side of my head was all swollen up.”

Crouch said that after he had somewhat regained his senses, several people came to his aid and he was driven to an Edmond hospital for treatment.

The suspect could not be reached for comment.

Crouch said the assault occurred after he had judged two days of competition at t he Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Ranch Rodeo in which teams from 12 legacy ranches in the state competed in events designed to simulate tasks they perform as working cowboys.

Crouch said he had disqualified the Choctaw Nation Ranch team from the calf branding event Friday night and team penning event Saturday night because they had violated contest rules. During the latter competition, the Choctaw team actually violated three different rules, he said.

“As far as those calls, I know they were correct,” he said. “I judge those kinds of rodeos a lot.”

Members of the Choctaw Nation team expressed a different opinion.

“They kept wanting to ask, 'What do I have against the Choctaw Ranch?'” Crouch said. “I promise you it's nothing like that. It would be like officiating a ballgame and if you step out of bounds, the ball's going to go to the other team. All we were doing was enforcing the rules.”

“I had some trouble with that same team last year down there,” Crouch said. “Nothing that was to this extent, but just breaking rules and then becoming mad because they got a no time.”

Crouch said he also disqualified other teams for violating rules in various events, but didn't have trouble with them.

“I don't want to give anybody a no time, but it's not fair to the other teams and contestants if they break the rules and they still get a time like everybody else,” he said.

Crouch said he has been judging professional rodeo and ranch rodeo events since 2001 and has even judged the world championship ranch rodeo in Amarillo, Texas. Never before has anything like this happened to him, he said.

Crouch discussed the assault, but said he didn't want to say anything that could harm the reputation of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association or the Lazy E.

The Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association has been hosting the ranch rodeo for 35 years and partnering to raise money for The Children's Hospital at t he OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City for nearly 20 years, raising more than $500,000 for the hospital, said Michael Kelsey, executive vice president for the Cattlemen's Association.

“The last thing that I want is to put a black eye or a cloud over what they do for those kids, because, yeah, I'm sitting here with teeth knocked out of my head and different things, but in the end that event is all about (the children).”

“That is a great event out there,” Crouch said. “They bring kids out there from the hospital and kids who have been in the hospital that are doing better and it just makes you feel good to be a part of an event that can better their circumstances.”

Kelsey said the Cattlemen's Association conducts a kids rodeo as part of the two days of festivities where about 20 children who have undergone treatment at the hospital are given a chance to ride horses, brand and rope a plastic calf.

“Those kids absolutely love it,” he said. “The smiles on the cowboys' faces are probably as big if not bigger than the smiles on the kids' faces.”

Kelsey said the ranch rodeo is very much a family event and the Cattlemen's Association wants law enforcement to make sure justice gets done.

“Kent was a judge and Oklahoma law — if a person attacks or assaults a judge or an official at an event — there is a specific statute and penalty for that. We expect justice in that sense. We are very much leaning on law enforcement to make sure that they carry through this properly and the guilty party is arrested and tried in the court system. We just won't tolerate this kind of stuff.”

Jody Standifer, an executive officer for the Choctaw Nation, issued a brief statement deferring inquiries to law enforcement officials.

“At this time the Logan County Sheriff's department is currently investigating this issue,” Standifer said. “This is a matter for law enforcement and we direct any questions to the sheriff's department at this time.”