Man who rams car, hits driver at Dayton gas station gets 1½ years in prison

ajc.com

A Dayton man who rammed a car and its driver at a gas station in March 2023 will spend 1½ years in prison.

Ronnie Eugene Falls Jr. was sentenced Tuesday by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Melnick after he pleaded guilty May 9 via a bill of information to tampering with evidence, failure to stop after a non-public road accident and a misdemeanor charge of negligent assault.

Ronnie Falls Jr.

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

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Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Falls got into an argument March 12, 2023, with a man unknown to him at the BP gas station at 500 Salem Ave.

“Witnesses stated the suspect rammed the victim’s car and then chased the victim around in his car after the victim hit the suspect’s car with a metal pipe,” according to an affidavit filed in Dayton Municipal Court.

When the person in the second vehicle got out and attempted to pick up the metal pipe, Falls struck the other man with his vehicle, according to court records.

Falls drove away from the gas station but later was arrested at his residence.

Melnick declared a mistrial after determining Falls “could no longer receive a fair trial” based on “misconduct of a witness for the state during their testimony” before a jury on March 6. The misconduct, which was not specified, did not involve the prosecution, the judge’s order stated.

Falls originally was indicted for felonious assault and the failure to stop counts, but his indictment was waived and his plea called for an agreed upon sentence of 1½ years in prison, court records show.

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