Duo hijacks semi, held the driver hostage; State troopers who killed the suspects won’t be charged

DAYTON — The Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers who shot and killed two people who hijacked a semi-truck and led officers on a nearly two-hour chase that ended near Dayton International Airport will not face charges.

A Montgomery County grand jury voted to not indict three state troopers who fired the shots that killed Rodney and Elaine Hellman on Terminal Road last August, finding that they acted lawfully under the circumstances, according to a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

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As News Center 7 previously reported, London police attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the Hellman’s vehicle on Aug. 2. As an officer was conducting the stop, the suspects drove away to a truck stop outside of London.

Once at the truck stop, they got out of their vehicle and began to run. When an officer tried to tase them, Rodney pointed a gun at the officer.

They then carjacked a Werner semi with the driver inside of it. As they drove away, the truck hit a London police cruiser.

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Law enforcement chased the suspects in the semi through Clark, Greene, Madison, and Montgomery counties before ending near the Dayton International Airport just before 3:30 a.m. From there, negotiations started.

After about five hours of negotiations, state troopers surrounded the truck in an effort to get everyone out of the truck. While giving commands, they saw Rodney point his gun toward the troopers on the passenger side and fired a shot toward a trooper. In response, three troopers returned fire, the spokesperson said.

After that, the hostage was removed from the semi. He had been shot in the hand and underwent surgery.

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Rodney and Elaine were each shot once and died at the hospital.

The Hellman’s handgun was found in the semi. Ballistics testing confirmed it had been fired at least twice.

The case was investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

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