‘That is tragic;’ Franklin residents recall moments after crash that killed police K-9

WHIO Staff
·2 min read
2

A 21-year-old driver is facing charges after crashing into a police cruiser.

>>PHOTOS: Crash kills area police K-9, injures 2 officers

The crash killed K-9 officer Fury and left two police officers with minor injuries in Warren County Saturday morning.

Michael Sims of Nicholasville, Kentucky will face charges of felonious assault of a police officer and felonious assault of a police dog.

Caleb Bethel lives on the street where the crash occurred, and he said he heard a loud noise from his kitchen.

“I seen the first officer, the driving officer with a taser and started running down the street towards the white truck or SUV, hard to see from here,” Bethel said.

Bethel said neighbors started flooding the street as they had heard the sound too and wanted to know what was going on.

Sims was driving the wrong way down S. River Street in Franklin around 10:40 a.m. when the crash occurred.

Bethel said that wrong-way crashes happen sometimes, but they are never this serious.

“Uh, little ones [car crashes] here and there but not too many. I know people come through here pretty fast quite a bit,” Bethel said.

>>INITIAL REPORT: Area police K-9 killed, 2 officers injured after being hit by SUV

Neighbors who witnessed the crash suspect that Sims was going over 100 MPH.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated the crash and said two Franklin Police Officers were on patrol, driving down S River Street, which is one-way.

A 2015 Jeep Patriot was speeding down the street, in the wrong direction, according to OSHP.

Both officers were taken to a nearby hospital and Fury was taken to MedVet.

Fury died from his injuries.

The Franklin Division of Police said both officers are expected to return to duty.

“For me, an animal life is more like a human life...I told my parents that whenever they try to make me get rid of my dog. So hearing something like that is tragic,” Bethel said.