Man to be sentenced next week for shooting wildlife officer
A 44-year-old Greene County man will be sentenced next week for shooting an Ohio wildlife investigator in December while illegally hunting deer.
Brian R. Liming is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in Clinton County Common Pleas Court for felonious assault, tampering with evidence and misdemeanor charges of hunting without a license and hunting without a deer permit.
He was found guilty Wednesday by a jury.
Liming, of Caesarcreek Twp. southeast of Xenia, on Dec. 20, 2020, shot and permanently injured Kevin Behr, a 25-year-veteran of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, who was among wildlife officers investigating a deer poaching complaint in the area of Macedonia and Martinsville roads in Clinton County.
Three men, including Liming, were in a pickup looking for deer when they stopped after spotting a buck in a wooded area off Macedonia Road. Liming fired a shot around 4 p.m. intended to chase out the buck, which struck Behr, according to court documents.
In a statement issued Thursday, Clinton County Prosecutor Andrew McCoy said that Liming was illegally hunting on the property without the owner’s permission and without a valid deer permit, the Wilmington News Journal reported.
“Hunting with a 20-gauge and thermal-optic scope, he discharged his firearm and struck Ohio Wildlife Investigator Kevin Behr, who was present on the property and in the process of setting up an investigation upon complaints of poaching from the road,” McCoy said. “Officer Behr called to Liming to stop shooting, to call 911 and for aid. Liming discarded his firearm and thermal-optic scope, and did not call 911 despite having a phone, and fled.”
Behr was assisted by fellow ODNR officers and first responders. He was flown by CareFlight to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Initially in intensive care, he remained hospitalized through March and underwent numerous surgeries.
During testimony Wednesday, Behr said his pelvis was shattered and that many of his internal organs were damaged. Also, he now has a colostomy bag at all times and must walk with the aid of two walking sticks, the News Journal reported. “It has been a struggle every day,” he said.
McCoy said Liming later was apprehended walking down a nearby road when he claimed to have had no involvement in the shooting and further claimed to be pursuing the shooter, the newspaper reported.
Liming in August pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati to a weapons charge and was ordered to forfeit a 20-gauge shotgun and eight shells.
The two other men who were with Liming — Thomas J. Davis, 35, of Jefferson Twp. near Jamestown in Greene County, and Bryan S. Achtermann, 37, of Midland in Clinton County — also faced misdemeanor charges.
Actermann pleaded no contest and was found guilty in April in Clinton County Municipal Court to hunting without a license and hunting deer without a permit. He was sentenced in May to 10 days suspended jailtime, ordered to forfeit the rifle he was hunting with and prohibited from hunting for three years. He also was ordered to serve supervised probation.
Davis was charged with aiding an offender and complicity, but the charges were dismissed, municipal court records show.
Liming has a prior felony conviction for aggravated vehicular homicide stemming from an October 2002 crash in Sugarcreek Twp. in Greene County that killed his passenger, according to court records.