Police say that stop strips didn’t stop a truck driver who was trying to run over police, so a sniper was called in to disable the truck.
On Saturday, Ohio State Highway Patrol got a call at 1:30 p.m. for a reckless driver on I-75.
Soon dozens of officers were in pursuit of the truck.
Police say that the driver was holding his wife hostage in the truck.
The truck driver made several stops and talked with police but the driver refused to surrender. At one of the stops, the driver disconnected his truck from his trailer and took off again, reaching speeds of 80 mph.
Police say that the truck driver backed up and intentionally tried to hit officers.
“He crossed over numerous times into the eastbound lane of westbound 275 and vice versa, putting numerous people at risk of serious physical harm,” Cincinnati Police Assistant Chief Paul Neudigate said in a press conference.
Eventually, the driver let out his wife. She was immediately picked up by officers and taken to a hospital for treatment. She reportedly had a broken leg and it was apparent she had been physically assaulted.
Police threw out stop strips but that didn’t stop the truck. Eventually, a member of the SWAT team shot a 50-caliber rifle round into the truck’s engine, finally disabling the truck.
Someone got out of the truck a while ago but now it’s just either sitting there or trying to move @Local12 pic.twitter.com/X0mQN1QHUH
— Jen Dalton (@jendalton12) July 18, 2020
“He would’ve killed somebody. Let me make this clear: Had it not been shut down, had we not gotten involved, the way he was recklessly driving a 5,000 or 10,000-pound vehicle, somebody would’ve been dead today,” said Neudigate.
The truck driver then held himself at knifepoint. He was tased and taken into custody.
“It’s 2020. Things are occurring today that I haven’t seen anything like this in 30+ years of policing,” Neudigate said in a press conference.
The truck driver’s identity has not been released.
Interstate 275 reopened Saturday night.
Police continue to investigate.
I’ve been glued to @EvanMillward live-tweeting this bizarre chase. Excellent use of screen grabs from ODOT cameras along this route to illustrate what’s going on too. https://t.co/F2CudJIQUE
— John Bedell (@JBedellWHIO) July 18, 2020
He is currently in the eastbound lanes on I-275 westbound towards Cincinnati near 5 Mile. He left his trailer and has been going at speeds of up to 80 mph. pic.twitter.com/0dEX1ITv6q
— David Winter (@DavidWinterTV) July 18, 2020