Road rage: Greene County assistant prosecutor fired, accused of biting off finger

ajc.com

A Greene County assistant prosecutor was fired after a road-rage incident where part of a man’s finger was bitten off in Riverside.

“As Greene County Prosecuting Attorney, I became aware on July 8 of an ongoing criminal investigation in Montgomery County regarding my employee Christopher Murray,” said Greene County Prosecutor David Hayes. “Murray has been on leave since July 9 from his position as an assistant prosecutor in Greene County. He has not been in the office, or representing my office in court, since July 9.”

Hayes has since fired Murray.

Riverside police responded to a fight on Woodman Drive at the U.S. 35 overpass at 12:32 a.m. on June 30.

Officers arrived to find a man with blood on his face and part of his finger bitten off, according to a Riverside police incident report.

He reportedly told police another driver — later identified as Murray — thought he got too close to him at a traffic light.

“When the light turned green (the man) stated the suspect was not going, so he ‘laid on his horn,’ ” according to the police report.

Murray got out of the vehicle and allegedly wanted to fight.

“(The man) stated his window does not roll down, so he opened his driver’s side door,” the report stated. “The suspect pulled it open and started to fight (the man).”

The man was able to get on top of Murray during the fight and then Murray reportedly bit the man’s finger.

Murray’s phone fell out of his pocket during the fight and was left behind when Murray left, according to the report.

The man’s finger was found, and he was taken to Miami Valley Hospital.

Police presented the case to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office for charges. The case will be presented to a grand jury, the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said. Murray had not yet been formally charged as of Friday.

Staff writer Daniel Susco contributed to this report.