4 days ago
I-Team: Investigation underway after fleeing suspect struck by Butler employee
(WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has learned more after a wanted man, who was running from a Butler police officer, was struck by a vehicle driven by a village employee.
The incident happened at about 7 p.m. on July 11.
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The wanted man, Anthony Ward, was in a vehicle with his grandmother and another woman just moments before the incident took place. His grandmother told a 911 dispatcher that she pulled over because a red vehicle was following her. Moments after she stopped her vehicle, a Butler Village police officer came up to the car and her grandson took off running, she said.
Security video obtained by the I-Team shows Ward running and a red car following him and striking him.
'They ran over him twice and trying to tell me that can be that way,' the grandmother told the dispatcher.
The grandmother asked for the Richland County Sheriff's Office to send a deputy to the scene but the dispatcher said police were already on scene.
'Yes, but they are the ones that ran over him,' the woman told the dispatcher.
According to officials, the person driving the red vehicle is an employee of the village of Butler. Bellville Police are investigating the incident.
Dispatch records state Ward was injured. The records state he suffered 'traumatic injuries' and that he may have a broken leg.
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Ward was released from prison in February after serving time for a sexual battery charge. According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction website, he was wanted by the Adult Parole Authority when officers tried to arrest him on Friday.
Both Butler police and officials with the village of Bellville have declined to release any names of the people involved. The I-Team obtained 911 dispatch records from the Richland County Sheriff's Office that name the village employee. We are not yet releasing the name of employee, since no charges have been Bellville Police Department has called a press conference on Monday morning to discuss the matter.
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