It was a typically quiet afternoon.
Paralegals Jessica Pennington and Angie Holley were working in the law office of Grubbs and Landry that May 21.
Suddenly tires were squealing not too far in the distanced and there was a loud crash. The disruption caught their attention immediately. They peeked out the window and could see smoke coming from southbound I-75, just north of Buttermilk Pike.
“My first thought was to try to go outside and jump the fence to make sure everyone was okay, but obviously can’t do that, so we called 911,” Pennington said. “And I prayed that all involved were okay. Dispatch kept asking me if there was a car trying to get away, but we couldn’t see anything through the trees.”
While on the phone, a man stumbled out of the woods and into their parking lot at the Huff Building in Fort Mitchell. Pennington gave a description and dispatch warned them to lock their doors and not let him inside.
“He was the suspect of a car theft in Elsmere earlier that day,” Pennington said. “We hung up with dispatch and could then see the suspect lingering around the back of the parking lot and then the police came and surrounded him.”
According to the Fort Mitchell police report, the suspect, James Henry, was arrested for multiple charges and had an outstanding warrant. The hit-skip that Henry was allegedly involved in occurred on I-75. He allegedly rear-ended another car in the southbound lane. According to the report, Henry pulled over in a gray Toyota RAV4 on the right side just before the Buttermilk exit.
He hopped the barrier heading toward the Huff Building.
With Pennington and Holley’s call to 911, police were able to apprehend Henry.
Fort Mitchell Sgt. Mike Gross appreciates their quick thinking.
“It is really important for citizens to take a stand and be good witnesses for police, as long as it can be done safely,” Gross said. “A lot of times when cases like this occur it’s sometimes a very self-aware citizen who helps track the suspect down and assist law enforcement with the investigation.”
Pennington said she and Holley decided to get involved because “it was the right thing to do.”
“Angie and I really felt like we assisted in protecting the community,” Pennington said. “We could have ignored the entire accident and kept working and let the police deal with it but being attentive and caring helped catch a suspect who had stolen a car and caused a serious accident.”
According to Pennington, residents and the police need to work together to protect the community.
“Officers can’t be everywhere at one time and need tips and community involvement to help solve some of these crimes,” she said. “In this case, the police were working on it, but if Angie and I didn’t take the time to call it in and keep an eye on it, they would not have found the suspect as fast as they did.
“Citizens need to remember, especially in these times, that the officers are here to serve and protect our communities and they want to do that. There needs to be more done throughout the communities between officers and community. I think that would help some of the problems in the nation right now.”
Written by Melissa Reinert, RCN contributor
