WALTON, Ky. — A Boone County sheriff's deputy on Tuesday was injured in a crash involving an alleged abduction suspect in Walton, according to Boone County Dispatch.
Dispatch said the crash happened just before 7:45 p.m. Tuesday on South Main Street and involved an alleged abduction case out of Greene County, Ohio. The Greene County Sheriff's Office identified the suspect in the case as 20-year-old Brenton Howland.
The Greene County Sheriff's Office said deputies were dispatched to a report of a domestic violence incident just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in New Jasper Township, Ohio.
A woman reported that she was traveling with her 2-month-old child when Howland, the child's father, stopped the vehicle they were in and "forcibly removed" her from the vehicle.
Watch Independence police dash camera footage from a portion of the pursuit below:
She said Howland then fled in the vehicle with their child.
The Boone County Sheriff's Office said shortly after 7 p.m., Boone County and other NKY agencies were alerted to the alleged abduction and "the imminent issuance of an Amber Alert," according to a press release.
Boone County deputies found Howland at a Speedway gas station on Mt. Zion Road, but Howland took off, leading law enforcement on a "high speed pursuit," the sheriff's office said.
The chase continued into Kenton County, where officers called off the chase because of Howland's reckless driving and high speeds, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office.
WATCH: Here's where the investigation stands one day after the crash
Officers lost sight of Howland, and multiple units, including Boone County, Kenton County, the Independence Police Department and Kentucky State Police, all began searching the area.
At around 7:45 p.m., officers with the Kenton County Police Department and the Independence Police Department found Howland's vehicle in Walton, on North Main Street. Howland then took off again at high speeds, heading south on Main Street.
Boone County Sergeant Jeff Nagy was heading north on Main Street with his emergency lights and sirens activated to help pursuing officers. But as Nagy tried to pass a Jeep Wrangler in front of him, Howland sideswiped Nagy's police cruiser, causing Nagy's cruiser to hit the Jeep.
Howland crashed into the side of the Walton United Methodist Church, the sheriff's office said. He was taken into custody and transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
As a precaution, the sheriff's office said the 2-month-old child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital but had no injuries. The child is now back with their mother.
The Boone County deputy was taken to St. Elizabeth in Edgewood with non-life-threatening injuries. The sheriff's office said he has since been released from the hospital and is now resting at home.
People who were in the Jeep declined to be taken to a hospital, the sheriff's office said.
According to the sheriff's office, Howland is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment and one count each of reckless driving, fleeing or evading police, disregarding a stop light and endangering the welfare of a minor. The Boone County Sheriff's Office said that after Howland is discharged from UCMC in Cincinnati, he will be extradited back to Boone County to face those charges. His bond has currently been set at $100,000 cash.
Howland will also face additional charges in Kenton County and in Greene County, Ohio, the Boone County Sheriff's Office said.
In a release Tuesday night, the Independence Police Department said it will be filing charges for fleeing and wanton endangerment.
By Wednesday morning, neighbors were out picking up debris from their yards.
"I didn't know (if) they were gonna have a gun battle or what," said Mark Carnahan, who watched the crash from his front porch. "It was scary."
Heath Parmer, a Walton resident who lives behind the church, said his family was inside at the moment of impact, but other neighborhood kids were not.
"I know it was very stressful for a lot of the kids in the area," he said. "I found that some of the neighbor kids were very close to the situation when it happened. And, you know, they're very lucky to still kind of be here and not be injured and be safe."
We spoke with the church's pastor on Wednesday. He declined to go on camera for an interview but said the building was left with virtually no damage beyond a broken window and debris strewn across the yard.
