Investigators said Raymond Walters stabbed his father multiple times before stealing the cruiser and crashing it in front of the Dayton Metro Library on Monday, Aug. 26, killing two 6-year-old girls.
Walters reportedly stole and crashed his father’s truck, officers have said, and that is when Riverside officer Robert Todd encountered him, as shown on the new video.
MORE: Children identified in deadly cruiser crash
“Help me, dude,” Walters said to the officer when he arrived on scene. “Help me. They’re coming to get me, man.”
Walters slipped into the cruiser and Todd asked Walters to get out several times before Tasing him. Walters is Tased twice, the video shows, then flees, leaving Todd along the road.
The cruiser’s emergency lights were flashing as it sped through the rain-covered 35 mph street.
The video also shows the cruiser recklessly heading into downtown Dayton, running a red light and nearly causing another accident before crashing into two cars and ultimately killing cousins Eleanor McBride and Penelope Jasko.
The video cuts out before the cruiser runs a red light at East Third Street and North Patterson Boulevard, causing the crash.
MORE: Children killed in stolen cruiser crash ‘did everything together’
The digital video recorder inside the cruiser could not keep up in real time as Walters sped down the street, Sturgeon said.
Maj. Matt Sturgeon with Riverside police said the department does not have any policies regarding locking a cruiser at a scene, mainly because officers often need the ability to get back into their vehicles quickly.
“We’re never going to bind our guys’ hands like that,” Sturgeon said.
In the wake of this tragedy, the department is now looking at implementing a security system into all its cruisers.
The system is used by the Beavercreek police department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol. It adds steps that only an officer would know for shifting the cruiser from “park” to “drive,” Sturgeon said.
The police department is currently testing this technology, Sturgeon said.
“We’re doing our due diligence to make sure that this kind of situation doesn’t happen again,” Sturgeon said.
MORE: Who is Raymond Walters?
Sturgeon said Todd was not disciplined after the incident.
“He followed his training,” said Sturgeon.
Todd has been with the Riverside police department since 2016, Sturgeon said.
“He has been nothing but an outstanding officer for us,” Sturgeon said.
The Dayton Daily News has requested Todd’s personnel file and the police report on the portion of the incident that happened in Riverside and has not received either yet.
After the crash on Aug. 26, Todd was back to work on Friday, Aug. 30. Immediately after the incident, Todd received mental health debriefing and defusing sessions. His wife also got to sit in on treatment, Sturgeon said.
“He wanted to come back to work,” Sturgeon said. “When something like this happens, (when an officer returns to work) is left up to the officer. And everybody is different.”
Walters remains in the Montgomery County Jail.
Walters’ father, neighbors and father’s friends told this news organization that Walters was delusional, erratic and seemed to have a mental breakdown before the crash.
Multiple neighbors said Walters was using methamphetamine, and his father, Lloyd Walters, said his son did not seem to recognize him when he stabbed him multiple times.
Lloyd Walters and other neighbors, including Jason Butts, said they contacted Raymond Walters’ parole officer multiple times before his alleged crime spree and warned about his increasingly crazed behavior and violent threats. He was paranoid and kept saying a drug cartel was coming after him, Butts said.
Two neighbors said they told his parole officer Raymond Walters likely was using drugs and posed a safety threat.
After this newspaper questioned the Ohio Department Rehabilitation and Corrections about these allegations, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the chief inspector at the department to review the case.
The objective, professional and comprehensive review will look at whether policies and procedures were followed, said Dan Tierney, the governor’s press secretary.
“Gov. DeWine requests the review be done as soon as possible but that it also be done thoroughly,” he said.
Under the terms of his supervision, Raymond Walters was subject to the warantless search of his person, motor vehicle, place of residence, personal property or any property he was given permission to use by the supervising officer or other authorized personnel of the department of corrections, according to documents obtained by this newspaper.
TIMELINE: Stabbing, crash, stolen cruiser, deadly crash
Raymond Walters was under the supervision of the Adult Parole Authority, after being released from prison on Aug. 10.
On March 27, 2017, he was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to a robbery offense, according to Montgomery County Court records.
He was required to complete drug and alcohol treatment through a residential program, but did not comply and in August 2017 was sentenced to 18 months in prison at the Lebanon Correctional Institution.
Raymond Walters was released from prison on Aug. 26, 2018, but was again incarcerated in February of this year for failing to comply with the terms of parole, according to state corrections records.
He was released from prison under parole supervision on Aug. 10.
Raymond Walters has a long criminal history.
Since 2008, he has been charged and sentenced on four adult felony offenses, court records state. He also has been charged and sentenced on 27 adult misdemeanor offenses since 2006.
