Lockland Police Officer Brandon Gehring was near the end of his overnight shift Monday morning when he heard a call about West Chester Police pursing a suspect Southbound on I-75.
Officer Gehring stopped his cruiser just beneath the Shepherd Lane overpass and deployed stop sticks onto the interstate to try and disable the fleeing vehicle.
A car driven by Thomas Joyce, of West Union, passed over the devices, but they didn’t work. Suddenly Officer Gehring was struck by the left side of a West Chester Township Police vehicle driven by Officer Kevin Burger.
"Get squad started my way," barked a police officer over her radio. "Officer struck. Officer struck in the highway."
Gehring was listed in critical condition Monday night at University Hospital.
"Our thoughts and prayers are focused on the officers and families that have been affected by this incident," said West Chester Township Police Chief Erik Niehaus.
Chief Niehaus said the tragedy unfolded at 5:42 a.m. when his department received a call about a burglary in progress at the Walgreen’s at Cincinnati-Dayton and Tylersville roads.
"It was reported to us that a man with a gun jumped the counter, stole prescriptions and fled the scene," the Chief added.
West Chester Township officers spotted a car on I-75 with Joyce behind the wheel and the pursuit was on. They waited for backup before trying to make a traffic stop, but Chief Niehaus said Joyce refused to pull over.
The accident at Shepherd Lane occurred moments later.
The chase continued into Cincinnati where Joyce was arrested at Vine Street and East Clifton Avenue in Over-the-Rhine. He’s been charged with aggravated robbery, failure to comply with a police order and OVI (operating a vehicle under the influence).
It wasn’t the first time police have had contact with Joyce.
Officials with the Adams County Sheriff’s Department say he and two other men were involved in a pair of prior pharmacy robberies in West Chester and another in Clermont County.
Lockland Police Lt. Terry Wilkerson said it appears that Officer Gehring followed departmental procedure in deploying the stop sticks.
The investigation is being handled by the Ohio Highway Patrol. Lt. Wayne Price said it will take time to reconstruct exactly what happened.
"We’re looking at the position of Officer Gehring at the time of the crash as well as the relative position of the vehicle that was driven by Kevin Burger of the West Chester Police Department," Lt. Price said.
Lockland police officer struck by West Chester cruiser on I-75 while trying help halt robbery suspect.
He added that Officer Gehring was struck by the driver’s side of the West Chester Police cruiser.
Chief Niehaus said that Officer Burger has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.
