By John Seewer
The Associated Press
A man who struck and killed a county deputy with his car May 2 is the father of a teen who was shot and killed by a Cincinnati police officer a day earlier as officers were responding to a call about a stolen car, police said. Authorities said the crash appeared to be intentional.
The driver of the car, 38-year-old Rodney Hinton Jr., was charged with aggravated murder in the deputy’s death, police said.
Hinton appeared in court May 3, with a wall of deputies standing at the back of the room. A prosecutor said evidence and witnesses will show that Hinton drove directly at the deputy in an attempt to kill him. A judge ordered that Hinton be held until another hearing on May 6.
An attorney representing Hilton said in court that he has no prior felonies and understands it’s a serious charge, WLWT-TV reported.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that he was “sickened by what appears to be an intentional act of violence.”
Just a few hours before the crash, Hinton and other family members met at the police chief’s office the morning of May 2 and watched a police body camera video showing an officer shoot the teen, said Michael Wright, an attorney hired by the family of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton.
Rodney Hinton could not make it through the entire video and did not say a word, said Wright, who is not representing Hinton on the crash charges.
“He was distraught, he was upset,” Wright said May 3.
In a statement issued later on behalf of Ryan Hinton’s family, the law firm offered heartfelt condolences to the family and colleagues of the deputy who was killed. The firm called it “an unimaginable tragedy” for the community and said the teen’s family was heartbroken by the events and devastated for the deputy’s family.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputy was directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati on graduation day when he was hit by a car that drove into an intersection, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said.
Authorities did not identify the deputy, who retired from the department a few months ago but was continuing to work off-duty assignments, said Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey.
“He was so well-liked and so well-known,” McGuffey said. “What a tremendous loss we have all suffered.”
Authorities said the circumstances of the crash were being investigated.
“If the facts show this act was intentional, as the charge suggests, I will throw the full force of the law at the perpetrator,” Hamilton County prosecutor Connie Pillich said in a statement May 2.
Ryan Hinton was shot twice and killed by police May 1 during a chase. The officer who fired told investigators that the suspect pointed a gun at him, said Cincinnati’s police chief. Police showed photos during a news conference May 2 of a semiautomatic handgun that they said he was carrying and another gun that was found in the car.
One officer could be heard in the body camera video released by police saying “he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun” before several shots were fired as Ryan Hinton was running behind an apartment complex.
While the blurred images did not clearly show Hinton pointing a gun as he and the officer were running, Theetge said the officer told investigators that he had the firearm in front of him, it was pointed at the officer and the officer feared for his life.
There was no indication that Hinton fired at police before he was shot, she said.