Stephens County man faces up to life for allegations he bit a jailer

DUNCAN — A Stephens County man is in jail accused of assaulting his father and then, while being booked into jail, of biting a detention officer’s finger.

Shawn Allen Menges, 33, of Comanche, made his initial appearance Friday in Stephens County District Court where he was charged with a felony count of assault and battery on a detention officer.

Due to three prior convictions, including for assaulting a detention officer, Menges faces between four years to life in prison if convicted.

Stephens County Sherif’s Deputy Patrick Norton stated he was called to Menges’ father’s home in Comanche on Thursday after the father said his son attacked him while he was driving. He said Menges hit him in the face and body and when they got home, the son started a fight that resulted in the elder man getting his left arm cut and bruised, the probable cause affidavit states. When he got in his vehicle to leave, he said, Menges threw a metal grate at the vehicle, damaging it.

The father said Menges destroyed two cell phones which caused him to go to a neighbor’s house to call 911, Norton stated.

When the deputy spoke with Menges, he said the suspect said he was a policeman in Colorado and that he works undercover with the Stephens County task force as an undercover drug informant, the affidavit states. He also said his father is a woman who had a sex change and isn’t really his father, Norton stated. He was arrested.

Once at the jail, Menges is accused of attacking and biting the finger of a detention officer. Jail security video captured the events.

The video showed Menges grab his jail clothing and throw it between the cell toilet and wall. He then walked toward the clothes, picked them up and threw them in the officer’s face, according to Deputy Michael Stewart. The officer struck Menges and they began fighting, eventually falling onto the bed where Menges bit the man’s middle finger, causing an open wound and blood to flow, according to the affidavit. After attempting to bite the officer’s finger again, he was restrained in a chair.

Menges has three prior felony convictions in Stephens County: January 2015, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and second-degree burglary, and: March 27, assault and battery on a detention officer, records indicate.

Friday’s court appearance was terminated before bond could be set.