Three agencies investigating police chase, crash that led to fatality
Officials still piecing together facts from tragic Sept. 11 incident.
The investigation of a fatal crash involving a Moraine police cruiser in Miami Twp. will enter its third week on Tuesday with some questions still unanswered as officials piece together facts from three phases of the incident.
Three agencies are involved in looking into the Sept. 11 crash on Ohio 741 after which Mary Taulbee died. Her car collided with a Moraine cruiser pursuing a car theft suspect at speeds reaching 80 mph.
The fatal crash involving Moraine Officer Matt Barrie, Lebanon resident Taulbee and a Chrysler driven by a Centerville resident Brandon Miller is a “complex” issue, which is the slowing the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s investigation of the crash, said Lt. Mark Nichols.
The OSP and Miami Twp. police have met “at least once” with Montgomery County prosecutors as Jeep theft suspect Alyssa Irwin Debraux remains in custody, Nichols said. Irwin Debraux awaits formal charges and a Monday court date, county jail records show.
Late last week, it was unclear when the police agencies would present findings to prosecutors.
Asked when any formal charges would be sought in this case, a prosecutor’s office spokesperson
declined to comment because “it is an ongoing pending investigation.”
Moraine’s legal counsel, Neil F. Freund, responded similarly about a series of questions sent to Moraine Police Chief Craig Richardson, amo n g them when police expect to seek criminal charges and an inquiry about Barrie’s status.
Barrie, 28, was placed on administrative leave due to minor injuries and to better cope with being involved in the fatal crash, Richardson said the day after the crash. The police chief said initial indications were that Bar- rie — the city’s officer of the year for 2017 — acted within Moraine’s pursuit policy.
Richardson said on Sept. 12 that Barrie “could come back” if “it doesn’t look like he violated any policies or laws.”
The investigation is split into three pieces, each handled by a different agency.
Moraine: Mora i ne police will investigate the events after Jeep owner Briauna Ball reported her vehicle stolen. That includes her tracking it to Moraine with a GPS device. Preliminary reports indicate that Barrie spotted a black 2009 Jeep Patriot and was “traveling alongside it” on Ohio 741 near Jomar Avenue.
Barrie, believing it was the stolen vehicle, sought to pull the Jeep over for a traffic stop as both were southbound. Barrie said the Jeep “just ran a red light at (Ohio 741) and Jomar” and he received permission from the road sergeant to pursue the Jeep.
Records show Barrie pur- sued the Jeep south on Ohio 741, reaching 75 mph at Lind- bergh Boulevard. Barrie con- tinued into Miami Twp. and past Orchard Run Road at about 65 mph. He then hit 80 mph before climbing an Ohio 741 hill about a quarter mile from the fatal crash scene.
Highway patrol: The highway patrol will investigate the crash itself. Nichols said the crash at Ohio 741 and Carnation Road began when the Chrysler driven by Miller and the Hyundai driven by Taulbee, a 57-year-old long- time Realtor who worked in Dayton, Englewood, Leba- non, Miamisburg, Springboro from a Washington Twp. office, collided.
Miller’s vehicle “moved right to avoid the ( Jeep) and struck the left rear” of Taul- bee’s car, according to initial reports from the state patrol.
Both Miller and Taulbee were northbound and “the Hyundai then traveled across the center lane and was struck by the southbound patrol car,” according to OSP.
Taulbee was taken to Ket- tering Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Miami T wp.: This phase of the investigation will involve the pursuit of the Jeep after the fatal crash, officials said. Miami Twp. police responding to that scene at Ohio 741 and Car- nation saw a Jeep matching the stolen vehicle’s description heading south on the state route.
An officer turned around near Ohio 725 and “the black Jeep turned radically, went into the Dayton Mall,” Miami Twp. Police Capt. John Magill has said.
The Miami Twp. officer followed while the Jeep “traveled at a high rate of speed” through the mall parking lot before heading to an exit for Ohio 741, he added.
The Jeep “hit the median and another car and in the process got flipped on to its top,” Magill added.
Irwin Debraux fled the Jeep and attempted to hop on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle, but police detained her, according to Magill.