HAMILTON - Hamilton police are crediting their new thermal imaging camera with the capture of a suspect in an armed robbery early Friday.

        Rodney Nelson, 31, of West Chester Township, was charged with aggravated robbery in connection with the alleged theft of $20 from a Hamilton man just after 1:30 a.m. Friday.

        Police say Mr. Nelson had a handgun when he took the money from the man in the 60 block of Petty Drive in Hamilton and ran off into a wooded area.

        After officers spent almost an hour searching the woods, Hamilton Police Officer Jim Gross arrived with the department's recently acquired thermal imager and quickly located the man.

        “Officer Gross, working closely with our departmental grants administrator, was able to obtain this $13,000 tool at no cost to the city,” Hamilton Police Chief Neil Ferdelman said. The equipment's cost was covered by a federal grant to support law enforcement technology.

        Thermal imagers, which show images based on the heat being given off by a person or animal, are becoming popular with fire and police departments across the region. Firefighters have used the devices to quickly find victims in smoke-filled rooms.

UC grads challenged to improve city
May showers bring ... mosquitoes
Fans in frenzy over 'NSync
Game's future may be in doubt
Gay pride leaders say support up
Lawmakers make annexation harder
Now students can live at school
Ohio birthday budget shrinks
Rally turns focus to growing violence
MCNUTT: Canine fun
Plea entered in Craven killing
Fliers show off stunts
Community center hunts for funds
Company will compensate landowners when laying cable
County rule applies to city
Dayton faces civil rights lawsuit
DEA moving to monitor OxyContin
Form of meningitis kills Toledo teacher
Girl killed, two hurt in crash
Injured man identified
Killer's plea: third execution countdown cruel
Man guilty in child porn case
Ohio family of four found shot to death
Parents, too, taste college life
Patton: Budget will be OK in '02
Police look for foiled hotel robber
Racketeering charges a first
Siblings charged after cats found in squalor
Thermal camera shows suspect in dark
Thousands near Salem get shots
Uncapped tuition expected to leap
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report