North Dixie Drive at Stop 8 Road is closed where the deputy was hit, and Interstate 75 was briefly closed after law enforcement stopped the suspected driver involved, the sheriff said from the Harrison Twp. scene.
At a press event, the sheriff said that around 8 p.m. deputies were called to North Dixie Drive and Stop 8 Road on a report of a stolen vehicle. After finding the vehicle, deputies started a felony traffic stop, which involves lining up police vehicles and trying to get the suspect to get out.
During the stop, Streck said, one of the deputies walked forward, and the suspect, a woman from the Columbus area, put the vehicle in reverse, crashing into the deputy with enough force to lodge his radio in the vehicle’s windshield. Witnesses told police that the suspect hit the deputy twice before speeding off.
Streck said that during this, the deputy fired his weapon at the suspect and struck her an unknown number of times.
The deputies on scene stayed with the injured deputy and called for help, Streck said, calling in help from Dayton, Vandalia, Butler Township and MetroParks police, which helped search the area for the suspect.
The deputy was transported to Miami Valley Hospital.
Law enforcement found the vehicle and chased it onto I-75 until it stopped north of Northwoods Boulevard in Vandalia.
At that point, police found that the suspect had been shot and took her to the Kettering Health Dayton, formerly known as Grandview Medical Center.
The deputy is expected to be in the hospital for a week or two, Streck said, unless testing shows worse injuries. The woman’s condition is currently unknown.
The names of the deputy and driver have not been released.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that this occurred due to a stolen vehicle,” Streck said. He said that there has been a large problem lately with stolen vehicles and suspects running from police.
“It’s just out of control right now when it comes to some of the violence that is going on and some of the way that people deal with our roadways,” he said.
Streck also said that he hoped both the woman and the deputy recovered.
“For an individual to get shot, for one of my deputies to get run over because of a stolen vehicle is just ridiculous, and we have to figure out what to try to slow some of this stuff down,” he said.
The Dayton Police Department is handling the criminal investigation on Dixie Drive and the Ohio State Highway Patrol is handling the part of the investigation on I-75, Streck said. The sheriff’s office will handle the internal investigation looking at procedures after the criminal investigation concludes.
Law enforcement is now working to review video of the incident, Streck said.
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