Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Suspect captured after wild car chase
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — A Middletown man was critically shot in his home, and police arrested two suspects — one of whom allegedly fled and fired shots at police from his moving vehicle early Tuesday.
Roy A. Clark, 25, of South Lebanon, “was driving down the road, stuck his hand out the window and started firing at the officer behind him,” said Middletown Police Maj. Mark Hoffman.
The chase, Maj. Hoffman said, was probably the wildest city police had seen in a decade. No one was seriously hurt in the chase.
The pursuit ended with Mr. Clark's capture — after he was found hiding in a tree — in Butler County's Union Township early Tuesday.
His alleged accomplice, Noel Richardson, 19, of Springdale, was arrested near the 1200 block of Calumet Avenue, where Frank Holdbrook Sr., 40, had been shot in the chest late Monday.
Mr. Holdbrook was flown by medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday.
Both suspects were armed, and police were still trying to figure out which man may have shot Mr. Holdbrook — and why, Maj. Hoffman said Tuesday afternoon.
Mr. Richardson, who is charged with felonious assault, is being held in the city jail in lieu of $350,000 bond.
Mr. Clark is to be arraigned today in Middletown Municipal Court for felonious assault, two counts of felonious assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and eluding.
Other charges are also being considered, Maj. Hoffman said.
Mr. Clark allegedly opened fire on police while they were following him eastbound on Ohio 122 and continued to fire while his black Eagle Talon traveled southbound on Interstate 75, Maj. Hoffman said.
Officers got the vehicle to stop by deploying a tire-deflating device along I-75 near Tylersville Road, said Union Township Police Capt. John Bruce. The device punctured three tires and caused the car to go off the interstate just north of Cincinnati-Dayton Road.
Mr. Clark allegedly got out of his car, fired shots at pursuing officers and ran into a wooded area, Capt. Bruce said. A department police dog, Hunter, and his handler, Officer Mark Weingartner, found the suspect hiding in a tree shortly after midnight. He was arrested without further incident, Capt. Bruce said.
Mr. Clark was treated at Middletown Regional Hospital for minor cuts and scratches he apparently suffered while fleeing through the woods and climbing into the tree, Capt. Bruce said.
Despite being fired upon, police didn't return fire, Maj. Hoffman said. “It's our policy that you don't shoot from or at a moving vehicle — because you won't hit what you're shooting at.”
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