OKLAHOMA CITY – An April Fool’s Day prank played over police dispatch has resulted in multiple demotions and reprimands, but no firings or criminal charges, after an internal investigation by the department.
The call, which was later determined to be a hoax coming from police staff, made claims about a high-speed pursuit, a person being run over, and a baby being thrown from a moving car.
Despite setting off a multi-agency response involving the OKCPD, OKC Fire, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, police officials confirmed that the prank resulted in no firings, but two high-level demotions and an untold number of lower-level disciplinary actions.
The April Fools incident
Just after 9:30pm on Wednesday, April 1st, a call went out from Oklahoma City Police dispatch claiming that officers were in pursuit of a vehicle on S. Robinson Ave., but that their radio was broken and that they could only send text updates about their location.
As officers prepared to assist, the dispatcher claimed they’d received a message that a baby had been thrown from the window of the car they were pursuing.
It was at that point that Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP,) who had been monitoring OKCPD dispatch, began preparing to join the pursuit.
A short time later, an OHP dispatcher said they’d received another text update from an officer claiming that the offending vehicle “supposedly ran over a transient.”
At that time, OKC Fire began heading to the scene to assist with medical treatment.
After more confusion and frustration at the pursuing officers not having access to working radios, an OKCPD supervisor stepped in to tell everyone to stand down and that the dispatch and messages appeared to be an April Fools’ Day prank.
In following days, OKCPD officials confirmed that the incident was being investigated as an internal matter and that some staff had been placed on leave, but declined to comment further at the time.
Police Lt. and dispatcher demoted; no firings, charges
Free Press has now confirmed that the OKCPD’s internal investigation into the incident has been completed and resulted in two demotions from supervisory positions in the department.
According to MSgt. Gary Knight in the OKCPD Public Information Office: “Lt. Kyle Dake received a Class 3 reprimand, a demotion to the rank of sergeant and 16 days of suspension without pay” and “dispatch supervisor Amber Zarnke was demoted from her supervisory role.”
MSgt. Knight implied that unofficial, lesser discipline may have been given to other staff as well, adding: “that is the only disciplinary action that rose to the level of public release.”
While Oklahoma law states that it is a misdemeanor to report any “knowingly false information which could result in the dispatch of emergency services from any public agency,” resulting in a fine of up to $500 and reimbursement for any costs to the agencies, no charges have been filed against Zarnke or Sgt. Dake.
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
