Chase with gunfire in Dayton ends with truck crushing police cruiser

DAYTON, Ohio (WCMH) – A woman was struck and bullets flew Monday during a chase on the west side of Dayton, ending with a pickup truck running over an officer’s vehicle and a major roadway closing.

At least one police cruiser and a deputy’s car were damaged as the chase came to a close. A large police presence formed on U.S. 35 near the Liscum Drive intersection, around five miles west of Dayton’s downtown. As of 3 p.m., the roadway was closed indefinitely in both directions between Abbey Road and Infirmary Road with three different active crime scenes, according to Trotwood Police Chief Erik Wilson.

Ohio State hospital workers unionize, citing unsafe staff levels and low wages

During a 3 p.m. news conference, the Trotwood and Dayton police chiefs and the Montgomery County Sheriff said the incident started around 10:54 a.m. Dispatchers for Trotwood police first got a report of a pedestrian hit by a vehicle in the Voyager Village trailer park. When officers arrived, they found a woman who had been struck by a white pickup truck.

The suspect that struck her then quickly drove past officers and pointed a long gun at them from the truck’s window, according to Wilson. The officers began chasing the suspect, who went east on U.S. Route 35. and began swerving through oncoming traffic.

As the suspect turned right onto U.S. 35 southern curve, multiple agencies joined in the chase. Wilson said authorities used stop sticks on the pickup truck’s tires, but the driver kept going past them. The truck kept going on U.S. 35 toward the intersection with Abbey Avenue, where the suspect turned around and started heading back west toward Liscum Drive.

“He began heading back westbound on U.S. 35, at which time he began firing at officers from his moving vehicle,” Wilson said.

When the suspect made it to the Liscum Drive intersection, he went across all lanes of traffic and crashed head-on with a Trotwood officer and deputy’s cars. No deputy was inside the car, but the officer was in the police cruiser.

The truck crushed the Trotwood cruiser and stopped on top of it. Law enforcement fired multiple shots at the truck, and Wilson said they were able to subdue the suspect. No one was hit by gunfire during the chase and detaining.

Emergency crews removed the Trotwood police officer from his crushed cruiser and took him to a local hospital. The suspect and woman struck by the truck were also hospitalized. While Wilson said the woman was treated for injuries that weren’t life-threatening, he did not share the condition of the suspect or the officer involved in the crash other than that the latter was expected to survive.

“They’re taking good care of him at this time … It was a pretty horrendous crash as I’m pretty sure all of you have seen,” Wilson said.

Police described the woman initially hit by the truck as a family member of the suspect, but noted they were not married. Investigators did not identify the suspect during the news conference, or the type of long gun he was using.

Wilson added that his agency could not give additional details beyond what was shared in the news conference, as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation had taken over the case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.