Driver arrested for OVI after hitting deputy's cruiser on scene of another crash
A 71-year-old man was arrested after crashing into a sheriff's office cruiser on scene of another crash in Darke County Friday night, according to a spokesperson with the Darke County Sheriff's Office.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The initial crash occurred in the 3000 block of Cox Road around 8:10 p.m.
TRENDING STORIES:
2 lawmakers shot, 1 killed in politically motivated shooting, governor says
1 dead, 1 hospitalized after house fire in Dayton
1 hospitalized after shooting in Montgomery County
A preliminary investigation found that a Chrysler Pacifica driving east on Cox Road went off the right side of the road into a creek, the spokesperson said.
A juvenile was hospitalized with suspected minor injuries.
During this crash, both lanes of the roadway were blocked by a deputy and a tow truck.
Duane Ditty, 71, allegedly tried to drive a Hummer through the roadblocks, according to the spokesperson.
The car went partially into the ditch and hit the deputy's cruiser.
No one was injured in the second crash.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol responded to the scene to handle the crash.
Ditty was arrested for operating a vehicle while impaired and transported to the Darke County Jail, the spokesperson said.
It is unclear if Ditty was believed to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Where is Patrick Alford Jr.? A New York City cold case investigation
"Cold Case with Alice Gainer" looks into disappearance of foster child in Brooklyn "Cold Case with Alice Gainer" looks into disappearance of foster child in Brooklyn "Cold Case with Alice Gainer" looks into disappearance of foster child in Brooklyn It was cold the night of Jan. 22, 2010, and witnesses say 7-year-old Patrick Alford Jr. wasn't dressed for the weather outside. He was merely throwing out the trash inside his apartment building, then he was supposed to head right back to his foster mother's apartment. But police say he seemingly vanished without a trace. Fifteen years later, he still hasn't been found. Patrick Alford Jr., 7, seemingly vanished without a trace from his foster mother's Brooklyn apartment in 2010. Photos provided Who is Patrick Alford Jr.? In 2010, CBS News New York reported that Patrick's biological mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, had admitted to being a drug addict and shoplifting, and she said she called child welfare for help. Rodriguez, who had been living on Staten Island at the time, then handed over custody of Patrick and his younger sister. Patrick was sent to live with a foster mother at the Spring Creek Towers Complex, formerly known as Starrett City, at 130 Vandalia Ave. in East New York, Brooklyn. At the time, CBS News New York reported police said Patrick had been with the foster mother for only three weeks, during which time he threatened to run away and said he wanted to go back to his biological mother. On Jan. 22, 2010, around 9 p.m., Patrick left the 11th-floor apartment to take out the trash and never returned. The elevator and stairwell were next to the trash compactor. Police K-9s were brought in to try to trace Patrick's steps. "The dog actually led them to a bus stop that was right around the corner from the building that he went missing from and that was it, that was where they lost the scent," retired NYPD Det. David Ramirez said. Thousands interviewed after child's disappearance in Brooklyn The police response was immediate and massive. Ramirez and Lt. Christopher Zimmerman, both now retired from the NYPD Missing Persons Squad, lived and breathed the case. Zimmerman, who was the commanding officer at the time, said they interviewed well over 8,000-9,000 people and knocked on over 14,000 doors. "We went around to the traffic cameras, to anybody who got a red light summons," he said. "Receipts for gas stations where people used credit cards. 'Did you see Patrick?' We interviewed bus drivers." Zimmerman continued, "We went as far as interviewing over 150 registered sex offenders, and we came up with nothing on that." Ramirez and Zimmerman added that the Department of Environment Protection and emergency services even searched a nearby water treatment plant. "Everybody was in. Every asset," Zimmerman said. Patrick Alford Jr., 7, seemingly vanished without a trace from his foster mother's Brooklyn apartment in 2010. CBS News New York Patrick's foster mother was on the phone when he left with the garbage, according to Zimmerman. "I had a good vibe about her intentions. From not expecting anybody, the house was immaculate. Her past history as a foster mother was incredible, never a complaint. She meant well and she was visibly upset. This was rocking this woman," he said. "Not that you ever turn a blind eye, you always keep your eye open a little bit just in case something pops up, but she was pretty credible at the time." CBS News New York tried getting in touch with the foster mother multiple times, but was unable to speak with her. Neighbors who have lived in the same building at the Spring Creek Towers Complex for decades had kind words. "Been in my building for years. Nice lady, foster kids," neighbor Tracy Ball said. "I had seen [Patrick] many times. Not that day. His foster mom, she had other kids and I would see her. Nice lady," neighbor Natalie Thomas said. Both women vividly remember the night Patrick went missing. "I always wonder about him, always wonder," Ball said. They also remember another thing missing from that time period – fear. "It was like he just disappeared, which we all thought was kind of strange," Thomas said. "There was no fear, that's why I said it just seemed maybe orchestrated." Missing child's biological mother says she regrets giving up custody A family court judge tossed Patrick's biological mother in jail, believing she was hiding Patrick and demanding she turn him over. CBS News New York reported back in 2010 that Rodriguez took a lie detector test and passed when she said she didn't know where Patrick was, but failed when she said she didn't know anything about his disappearance or how he got away. "I think that's bullcrap because I don't know nothing," Rodriguez said at the time. Late CBS News New York reporter Pablo Guzmán sat down with Rodriguez early in the investigation. "You're the one that the police and the judge, everybody's focusing on," Guzmán said. "I don't know why, and it's not fair for me because I don't have anything to do with it and I don't have anything to hide," Rodriguez said. Patrick Alford Jr., 7, seemingly vanished without a trace from his foster mother's Brooklyn apartment in 2010. Photo provided CBS News New York spoke with Rodriguez again four years later, in 2014, and she recently spoke with CBS News New York's Alice Gainer via Zoom. "I do not know where my son is," said Rodriguez, now 38. Rodriguez was 22 years old when Patrick went missing and was a single mother to three children. She said she gave up custody fully intending to eventually get her children back. "To get the help that I needed to be a better person, a better parent. That's why I did it. I had no choice," she said. "I was a good mom. I mean, I had mental health issues." She wasn't cut off from contact, though, and she spoke to Patrick's foster mother. "He was placed with a foster mother that spoke strictly Spanish," Rodriguez said. "She used to tell me that he would, like, try to run off and that he was hard to deal with." She also spoke with Patrick, who she says couldn't communicate with his foster mother since he only spoke English. "It was always so crushing like, 'Mommy, I want to come home. Please. I love you.' It just takes my breath talking about it because I can hear his little voice. He didn't understand what was going on," Rodriguez said. "I regretted it. I was like, what did I do?" "Patrick vanished" Rodriguez remembers all the heat on her after Patrick went missing. "It was the most scariest and traumatic time in my life. I was like, my son is missing and you're locking me up? I felt so hopeless because it's like, I'm in jail, you're focusing on me, and he's out there," Rodriguez said. Rodriguez thinks that maybe her son did initially try to run away, but then something happened to him. "Maybe he's like, 'I'm getting out of here.' You know, kid being a kid. I'm thinking somebody took him. Ain't no way he gonna just disappear," she said. "A normal person would be like, 'OK, let's go find your family.' Patrick vanished. Vanished." Zimmerman said police didn't find anything that would've tied Rodriguez to the disappearance. Patrick's biological parents won a $6 million settlement after they filed a federal lawsuit against city agencies involved in the case. It's been put in a trust for Patrick if he returns home. Police also say Patrick's biological father cooperated with the investigation. He recently died. Zimmerman said police checked on relatives outside of the New York City area and flushed out tips that came in from as far away as Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Florida. "There was a lot of theories," Zimmerman said. At one point, there was a private investigator involved in the case. CBS News New York has not heard back from them. "Eventually, the truth's gonna come out" Today, the Missing Persons Squad has a cabinet filled with thousands of files dedicated to the Patrick Alford case. "I always go back to these files, give it a fresh look," NYPD Det. Ezequiel Burgos said. "The case is still an active case," NYPD Lt. Christopher Torrisi said. "And we canvas the area multiple times a year." Torrisi said the department has received many tips, but none have panned out. "We've gone to other countries where other people have seen him, supposedly," he said. Still, nothing has been ruled out. Left: Patrick Alford Jr., 7, in 2010; Right: A digitally produced age progression photo showing what Patrick may look like today at age 22 Photos provided Patrick would be 22 years old now. Zimmerman said he believes Patrick is still alive, and if he is out there somewhere, living his life, it's still important to call police. "Those resources, if he's found alive and healthy, could be elsewhere helping another case," Zimmerman said. "Eventually, the truth's gonna come out, and somebody knows something about where he is or what happened," Ramirez said. Rodriguez said she still celebrates her son's birthday every year and has a message for him. "I love you. If there's any way out there for you to find a way home safely, to come home ... We never gave up on you," she said. "We pray about you every single day." CrimeStoppers is offering a $13,000 reward for information in this case. Anyone who knows anything is asked to call 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS).
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
What we know about the Minnesota lawmaker assassination
Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, were shot and killed Friday overnight. The shooting is 'what appears to be a politically motivated assassination,' according to Gov. Tim Walz. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, were also shot and wounded about five miles away from where the shooting of the Hortmans took place, CBS News reported. A man impersonating a police officer shot Sen. Hoffman and his wife multiple times, The New York Times reported. At the Hortman home, Brooklyn Park police officers encountered the suspect 'dressed up as an officer with a fake police vehicle,' and the suspect opened fire on officers then fled the scene, per Fox 9. In the suspect's vehicle, law enforcement discovered a manifesto and a target list of names of individuals, including the two lawmakers who were shot, according to The Times. The person of interest identified by law enforcement goes by the name Vance Luther Boelter, is from Minnesota and is 57 years old, per CBS News. Boelter was appointed by Gov. Walz to the bipartisan workforce development board in 2019, and his term expired in 2023, per Fox 9. Hortman was the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and was serving as Speaker of the House, per CNN. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that he was 'beyond heartbroken' by the deaths of Rep. Hortman and her husband. 'She was wise, she was caring, she was brilliant, and her smile lifted people up in good times and helped them through the bad,' he wrote in a post on X.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘This isn't funny': Klobuchar criticizes Mike Lee comments about Minnesota shooter
WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is facing backlash over a pair of social media posts he shared over the weekend, including from some of his colleagues in the Senate. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., 'condemned' the language included in Lee's posts that featured photos of Vance Luther Boelter, the key suspect who was arrested in connection to the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers resulting in the death of one. Boelter has since been arrested on charges of two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. 'I have condemned what Mike Lee did here at home, and I will speak to him about this when I return' to D.C., Klobuchar, who said she was friends with the victims of the shooting, told MSNBC on Monday. 'And what I'm going to tell him is, this isn't funny what happened here.' Later, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., told CNN she spoke to Lee in person and told him she thought the post was 'brutal and cruel.' She added, 'I wanted him to hear from me directly how painful that was and how brutal that was to see that on what was just a horribly brutal weekend.' Smith said Lee didn't say much in response, adding that he seemed 'kind of surprised to be confronted.' The first post Lee shared to X this weekend featured a surveillance photo reportedly of Boelter in a mask and uniform as a way to disguise himself as a police officer, according to law enforcement. Lee shared the photo with the caption: 'This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way.' Lee later posted the same photo alongside a headshot of Boelter with the caption: 'Nightmare on Waltz Street,' an apparent reference to Gov. Tim Walz, who ran for vice president last year, although the name is misspelled. Lee also reposted another photo of Boelter on X calling Marxism 'a deadly mental illness.' Theories about Boelter's political affiliation began to spread on social media after it was revealed he was twice appointed to a state economic panel by two Democratic governors, including Walz. However, a man who identified himself as a close friend and former roommate of Boelter told local news outlets that Boelter had supported Trump in the 2024 election. The posts prompted anger online, with several accounts calling for Lee to apologize or step down. It's not clear whether Klobuchar would push for any punishment for the Utah senator, but said she would have a conversation with him when the Senate reconvenes on Monday. Timing for that meeting is not clear, and spokespeople for both Klobuchar's and Lee's offices did not respond to requests for comment by the Deseret News. Meanwhile, Lee's official government account had a different response to the Minnesota shooting, posting this statement: 'These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America. Please join me in condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families.' Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have since called for increased security at home, especially after it was revealed Democratic members of Congress were among the 70 names listed in Boelter's writings that was found in his car during the police investigation. Senators are set to be briefed by U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday morning about the incident.
