COLERAIN TWP. — A Hamilton County sheriff's deputy was critically injured Tuesday afternoon when he lost control of his cruiser during a high-speed traffic pursuit on eastbound Interstate 275, crossed the median and struck a tractor-trailer.

Hamilton County sheriff's officers gather around Deputy Paul J. Reinert's cruiser after it crashed into a tractor-trailer while chasing a red Firebird on I-275 Tuesday. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        The car being chased, a red Pontiac Firebird, was being driven by a white male in excess of 100 mph. The car and driver remained at large late Tuesday.

        Deputy Paul J. Reinert, 29, of Harrison Township, was in critical condition late Tuesday at University Hospital, where he was being treated for multiple injuries.

        “We have been informed by doctors that he will live,” Hamilton County Sheriff Simon L. Leis Jr. said outside the hospital emergency room. “He's one of our best. When a member of the family gets hurt, it affects everybody.”

        Deputy Reinert radioed to dispatch that he was pursuing a vehicle speeding on eastbound I-275, Sheriff Leis said. Near the Pippin Road overpass just west of the Hamilton Avenue exit, the deputy “lost control of the vehicle, went across the median and struck a (westbound) tractor-trailer,” he said.

        The cruiser spun upon impact and was clipped by an orange van.

        Gregory Heiman of Oxford said he was driving west on I-275 when he noticed the cruiser, with emergency lights flashing, traveling east. Suddenly, the cruiser crossed the median into opposing traffic, he said.

Reinert

        “I knew something was wrong for him to be going that fast,” Mr. Heiman said. “I knew he was going to hit the semi. Debris just went up in the air. It was a hard impact.”

        The pursuit lasted about a minute, said Steve Barnett, sheriff's office spokesman, before the crash occurred at 2:56 p.m.

        Deputy Reinert was able to radio in and report the crash and say that he had suffered a head injury, he said.

        The impact destroyed the driver's side of the cruiser, Mr. Barnett said. Firefighters had to cut the deputy from the wreckage. The deputy suffered “severe injuries all over his body.”

        The truck driver, Virgil Judy, 47, of Fairfield, was treated for minor injuries.

        The driver of the 1969 Chevy van, Thomas Ball, 41, of Osgood, Ind., was not injured.

        The sheriff's office had only sketchy details about the vehicle Deputy Reinert was chasing.

        “A red Firebird. That's all we know at this point,” Sheriff Leis said.

        Deputy Reinert did not radio in a license plate number, Mr. Barnett said. It's possible that the Firebird passed him at such a high rate of speed that he wasn't able to see the plate number.

        Deputy Reinert joined the sheriff's office in the corrections division in 1995, was assigned to the patrol division in 2000 and in January joined the traffic safety section, which investigates serious and fatal crashes.

        He is married and has three children — twin boys, 5, and an 8-year-old daughter.

        Anyone with information on the vehicle is asked to call the sheriff's office at 825-1500.

        David Eck contributed to this report.

Lt. Col. Twitty's supporters undaunted by indictment
County prosecutor let defense witnesses testify to grand jury
More of the same, black leaders say
Possible Twitty successors in limbo
Reactions
Mike Allen excerpts
Interchange plan riles up residents
Taft claims 'a bold agenda'
Action Agency to go against boycott
Deputy critically injured
Federal workers take spots today to check airport bags
Huntington tenants get extra time
Junior League to target child mental illness
Navy's No. 1 officer urges recruits on
Tristate A.M. Report
United Ways kick off campaigns
BRONSON: Lt. Col. Twitty
GUTIERREZ: 12th Street
HOWARD: Some Good News
KORTE: City Hall
SMITH AMOS: Opening lines
Answers sought on landfill site
Lakota schools open doors
Springfield Twp. outlines 'vision'
Steroids investigation ends when covert operation exposed
Thieves resume West Chester hits
Underage drinkers may cost stores
West Chester official censored
Backers of drug law gave $1M to put plan on ballot
2nd Ky. death 'probable' West Nile
Animal shelter shootings gain opponent
Construction of I-66 ready to roll
Kentucky News Briefs
Military enlistments slow down
Mud flies in Louisville election
N.Ky. sewer board reviews operations
Poll on parks planned
Three months after suspect's death, robbery questions linger