Injured in the line of duty

By Editor | May 23, 2018 |

One of the basic things that police officers learn during training, Fayette County Sheriff Chris Smith said, “is that there is no such as a routine traffic stop.”

Ronnie “Butch” Stevens, a deputy with Smith’s department, experienced that late last month after stopping a motorist for speeding.
During that stop, the driver of the vehicle sped off, with Stevens hanging out of the driver side window. As the motorist turned onto another road, Stevens was thrown from the vehicle onto the pavement.
Stevens was off duty for two weeks recovering from injuries, injuries that linger weeks later.
The driver of that vehicle was captured a short time later. Adriana Brown-Gibson, 18, of Springfield, has been charged with the felony offenses of aggravated battery of a peace officer, reckless conduct causing great bodily harm, aggravated fleeing causing bodily injury and obstructing justice, as well as six traffic offenses.
Stevens was driving on U.S. Route 51 shortly after 6:30 p.m. on April 25 when he noticed a speeding car headed northbound toward Vandalia.
The driver reportedly stopped the vehicle a couple of hundred feet from the T-intersection with U.S. Route 40.
Stevens said that he detected the odor of cannabis as he approached the vehicle, and as he got up to the driver’s door, he noticed a plastic bag containing what he believed to be a controlled substance.
He said the driver denied the possession of drugs, and when he realized that she might drive off, Stevens reached into the window to grab the gearshift in the center console.
The video from the dash cam in Stevens’ squad car shows the taillights of the car indicating that the car had been shifted into drive.
With Stevens hanging out of the window, the driver sped toward the intersection and turned onto Route 40, at which time Stevens was thrown.
“I think the momentum of her making the turn at the speed she was at, which has been estimated at 25 or 30 mph, the momentum threw me out,” Stevens said. “On the video from my body cam, you can hear the tires squealing when she took off.”
Stevens said that as she started to drive off, he thought, “Holy cow, what am I doing now.”
The video from Stevens’ dash cam shows him being thrown onto Route 40 and rolling.
“I hit on my left side and somehow transitioned over to my shoulder. I think that I slid on my right shoulder for a good little distance,” he said.
“I shot up and I think that when I hit the pavement, I got a charley horse in my right leg. I initially thought that I had a broken leg. The pain was excruciating at that point.
“I just fell to the ground and called for assistance,” Stevens said.
The dash cam video shows that right after Stevens falls down, a vehicle, driven by Terry White Jr., pulling up and turning sideways on the highway to stop traffic.
Right after that, a number of vehicles are shown stopping and people rushing up to help Stevens.
A nearby resident was among those running up, and his fiancée, Lisa Ritchey, hopped in her vehicle to follow the fleeing vehicle toward Bluff City.
“A lot of passing motorists stopped to give aid, then the calvary (other law enforcement officers) showed up,” he said. Those coming to his aid included Dr. Joe Solan, who is a part-time deputy in Effingham County.
From the prone position, Stevens watched the fleeing vehicle. “It didn’t look like she was leaving at a high rate of speed. It seemed like an eternity before I lost sight of her car,” he said.
The incident caused road rash on both sides of his body and a small abrasion on his forehead, and he had bruises on his arm from hanging on the vehicle window.
Stevens, who served with the Ramsey Fire Department for about 17 years, said that he had learned that volunteer firemen from throughout the county had responded to the incident.
“It’s great to see that support and the support from people who were there, ready to help me,” he said.
Smith was among the first officers to show up at the scene.
“I checked with Ronnie for a few minutes, saw that the medical personnel were there, and Ronnie looked up at me and said, ‘Go get them, sheriff.’”
“I told him, ‘I promise you, I will,” Smith said.
“The first thing I’m screaming is, where is this person,” he said. “He told me, ‘They took off, they’re heading east toward Bluff City.’ The officers that were standing here, I said, ‘Leave, go after this vehicle.’”
Smith said that Ritchey lost sight of the vehicle near the Brownstown interchange, leading police to believe that it had gotten on Interstate 70.
A short time later, the driver was apprehended.
“It’s the worst feeling I’ve had as a sheriff, to run toward one of your officers laying in the road, because the emotions that are running through you are just unbelieveable,” Smith said.
“Shock gets us all, no matter who you are,” he said.
“Thank goodness the vehicle didn’t turn left, because Ronnie could have been thrown under the vehicle,” Smith said. “That was a blessing.”
The sheriff had praise for those who responded to Stevens’ incident.
“It’s great to see how many people rushed to his aid and one of them following the vehicle. Without her (Ritchey), we probably wouldn’t have been able to catch this person,” he said.
The incident, Smith said, is a reminder of some basic information taught to officers during training.
“We’re taught to always stay on alert, make slow approaches and watch people,” he said.
“We always preach – don’t get lax,” Smith said.