Butler County prosecutor presents award to state troopers for capture of escapees
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Mar. 8—Two Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers from the Hamilton Post have been presented with the Butler County Prosecutor's Office 2023 Meritorious Award for the apprehension of escapees from Missouri detention center.
Trooper Justin Adleta and Trooper Dominic O'Neill received the award for he incident that happened Jan 20, 2023, in Liberty Twp. They were nominated by Lt. Matthew Keener for their bravery in the coordination and apprehension of the violent offenders.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser has presented the award for seven years to a member of law enforcement.
Adleta and O'Neill stopped a vehicle for an improper turn at the intersection of Bypass 4 and Ohio 129, The vehicle containing four men initially stopped, but fled with the troopers giving chase into a Liberty Twp. subdivision where all four suspects fled on foot, according to officials.
The troopers were able to take two suspects into custody after a foot chase and then radioed for help to set up a perimeter to find the other two who were loose in the residential area. With the help of the Butler County Sheriff's Office and West Chester Police Department, the two remaining suspects were eventually apprehended.
"Here is the deal with police officers and state troopers: they don't shrink from duty, they run to the danger. And that is what they did here, they took off after these four," Gmoser said during Friday's awards presentation.
"(It) put an end to a threat caused by four people that had escaped from St. Francis Farmington, Missouri," Gmoser said. "As a result, our community was probably saved from a disastrous result from these individuals coming into our community."
Surveillance video taken Jan. 17 in Missouri show the escaped inmates entering a stolen vehicle about a mile from the detention center where they were incarcerated. The St. Francois County Sheriff said the inmates earlier had forced their way through a door at the jail, then made their way to the roof of the building and eventually to the ground before taking off on foot.
