Alleged LugNutz bar shooter pleads not guilty; bond set
FAIRFIELD — The suspect in the fatal shooting at LugNutz bar in Fairfield pleaded not guilty Thursday during arraignment in Butler county Common Pleas Court.
One person died and two more were injured in the shooting that happened there Nov. 7. Miguel Wesley Galliher, 20, of Hamilton was indicted last Friday by a Butler County grand jury for murder with a gun specification, six counts of felonious assault, failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon and illegal possession of a firearm in liquor permit premises.
Galliher allegedly shot 44-year-old Robert C. Strong of Hamilton. Strong was flown by medical helicopter to University Medical Center in Cincinnati where he was pronounced dead, according to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.
Defense attorney Frank Schiavone IV requested reasonable bond stating Galliher has family support, retained an attorney and is not a flight risk. Schiavone suggested Galliher could be released with a GPS monitor.
Assistant Prosecutor Kraig Chadrick said the seriousness of the charges make Galliher a flight risk. He said Galliher was in a bar with an illegal handgun and “fired that handgun pretty callously, threatening people, killing one, and led police on a high speed chase.”
Judge Jennifer McElfresh set Galliher’s bond at $1 million. He is scheduled to be back in court Jan. 6, 2022.
Dash camera video of the responding officer’s vehicle showed a gray Ford vehicle, believed to be the getaway car. The officer spied the vehicle just north of Donald Drive and chased it north on Ohio 4. The gray vehicle is seen weaving in and out of traffic, and then accelerating on the state route once it passed brief congestion north of Symmes Road.
The vehicle then spun out and veered right of the roadway, coming to a stop in a grassy area next to a used car lot north of the CSX railroad overpass.
The officer could be heard yelling multiple times for the four passengers in the vehicle to get their “hands up” and “keep your hands up.”
The video ends with officers ordering the third of four passengers out of the vehicle. The second person ordered out was Galliher, the only person charged in Strong’s shooting death. He is seen cooperating with officers’ commands, walking backward from the vehicle he drove to the police cruiser. One officer warned Galliher, “If you run, you’re going to get bit,” referring to the responding K-9 officer.
Galliher was ordered to lay face-down on the ground next to the recording police cruiser, and was handcuffed.
Hailey Vierling, 21, of Hamilton, and Jerome Golston, 30, of Lima, also were hit by gunfire and suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
Officers were dispatched at about 1:30 a.m. to 22 Donald Drive for a report of shooting inside the bar. The investigation revealed Strong and Galliher were involved in an argument when Galliher pulled out a gun and began shooting, according to police.
Galliher shot Strong “several times,” according to court documents.
Police said it does not appear that Vierling and Golston were directly involved in the shooting.