17-03-2025
Charges dismissed against Cincinnati firefighter involved in gun battle outside bar
A Hamilton County judge on Monday dismissed all charges against a Cincinnati firefighter who said he acted in self-defense when he was involved in a shootout last year outside a local bar.
Mack Ogletree was charged with multiple counts of felonious assault in the Aug. 11, 2024 incident outside 629 Sports Bar in Colerain Township.
Prosecutors said the shooting happened as a fight in the bar's parking lot was de-escalating. They accused Ogletree of firing at 40-year-old Phillip Shaw. At the time, Shaw was under supervision by federal authorities after serving a 10-year prison sentence for heroin trafficking and gun charges.
But Ogletree's attorney, Brandon Fox, said video showed that Shaw fired first. Fox said Ogletree, 36, was protecting others who were involved in the melee. He has a valid license to carry a gun.
Shaw was grazed in the head by a bullet. A woman who was inside a car in the bar's parking lot was struck in the arm.
A trial was scheduled to begin Monday, but the woman, for a second time, did not show up. Shaw, who is charged with illegal gun possession by a felon, was present but through his attorney invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify and incriminate himself.
That left the prosecution without either victim for the trial.
"We were confident that we would have received a not guilty verdict, even if everyone would have shown up," Fox said.
Ogletree remains on administrative leave.
Cincinnati Fire Department Public Information Officer Lindsay Lomax Haegele declined to comment on the outcome of the case.
Lomax Haegle said the department's command staff will review the situation and provide an update to the public in the coming days.
Because the charges against Ogletree were dismissed without prejudice, prosecutors could refile the charges within one year.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Charges dismissed against Cincinnati firefighter involved in shootout
