TURTLECREEK TWP., Warren County — New video recorded by a bystander and released by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office shows the shootout between a suspect and police, deputies and state troopers at the end of a police chase in Turtlecreek Township Monday afternoon.
Middletown Police Officer Denny Jordan and the suspect, 35-year-old Chris Hubbard from Butler County were both wounded in the exchange of gunfire.
Also new Tuesday afternoon, News Center 7 learned Hubbard is a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Butler County.
“There is an active, ongoing homicide investigation in the City of Hamilton,” Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said at a press conference at the Butler County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday afternoon. “This individual, Mr. Hubbard, is a person of interest in that investigation … We know which one it is, but we’re not releasing that information,” Chief Bucheit said before declining to offer any other details about the homicide case.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said law enforcement first tried to pull over Chris Hubbard during a traffic stop in Fairfield Township around 4:10 Monday afternoon. Law enforcement said Tuesday afternoon they were “surveilling” Hubbard Monday afternoon. Aside from being a person of interest in the Hamilton homicide, officers said they had an arrest warrant for Hubbard for a probation violation.
Sheriff Jones said Hubbard was “boxed in” by officers in Fairfield Township before he took off – leading law enforcement on a chase that lasted 20 minutes and reached speeds of 40-60 miles per hour.
Police and deputies from multiple agencies in two counties as well as Ohio state troopers got involved in the chase, Sheriff Jones said, because law enforcement had intel that Hubbard was armed and dangerous.
“Law enforcement had information that Hubbard would shoot it out with the police as the chase was going on,” Jones said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
The chase ended when law enforcement used stop sticks to shred the tires on Hubbard’s car. The vehicle ended up in a front yard of a home on Mason Montgomery Road just outside Mason in Turtlecreek Township.
That’s when Sheriff Jones said Hubbard refused to get out of the car.
New video released by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday that was recorded by a witness Monday afternoon shows Hubbard’s car on the right side of the screen and officers taking cover behind multiple cruisers on the left side of the video with their guns drawn. Middletown Police K-9 officer “Koda” is seen in between the suspect and law enforcement in the middle of the picture.
Sheriff Jones says the video picks up just after deputies had fired bean bag rounds to break the window on the driver’s door of Hubbard’s car so “Koda” could get to him to help in his arrest.
The video shows a puff of smoke from the first gunshot deputies say Hubbard fired go right by the dog as the animal is at the apex of its leap to try to get into the car. Then, the dog lands on the ground, unharmed, and can been seen ducking to avoid the bullets flying back and forth.
“How the dog kept from getting shot? We don’t know,” Sheriff Jones said.” Brave dog.”
The video also shows “Koda’s” handler, Middletown Officer Denny Jordan, fall to the ground after he was shot in the triceps, hand and leg.
According to Sheriff Jones, Hubbard was shot “multiple times” at the scene.
Tuesday afternoon, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office released a list identifying five Butler County deputies, two police officers and one state trooper who fired gunshots at the scene on Mason Montgomery Road. One deputy and the two police officers on the list were identified only as “Under Cover Agent #1, #2 and #3.”
Both Officer Jordan and Hubbard received medical care on the scene and were taken to local hospitals. As of Tuesday afternoon, Hubbard was still hospitalized, Officer Jordan was not.
“Officer Jordan was released from the hospital last night,” Middletown Police Chief David Birk said at the press conference Tuesday afternoon. “He’s got a long road for recovery. And we’re just glad that he’ll be alright.”
As for Hubbard, aside from any potential legal trouble from his arrest warrant and the homicide investigation in Hamilton, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office is handling the investigation into the chase and shootout. BCI will eventually present the case to a Warren County grand jury for a review of formal charges.
Cox Media Group
