Video from Hamilton’s cruiser, a 2018 Ford Explorer, shows the deputy was headed north on state Route 503 approximately one minute before the deadly crash at 3:53 a.m. when an unidentified vehicle appears to speed when it passes him headed south, the patrol said.
“Deputy Hamilton turns around in a residential driveway and attempts to catch up to the southbound vehicle. A short time later, Deputy Hamilton’s cruiser goes left of center as he enters the curve just north of Ray Road, where the fatal crash occurred,” the patrol stated.
The crash remains under investigation.
Credit: Preble County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Preble County Sheriff's Office
Hamilton had been with the sheriff’s office since May 2022. He worked in the Preble County Jail before he was promoted in June to road patrol. He was a member of the U.S. Army National Guard and had served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, the sheriff’s office said.
He is the first Preble County sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty.
Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson described the crash as a “tragedy all around.”
He said the sheriff’s office is thinking about Gayhart’s family as well as Hamilton’s.
“We want to make sure that they know that we’re thinking about them at the same time,” Simpson said.
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