Death by Cop 2022-2024
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Michael Eugene Gayhart II 1 of 2
Gender : Male
Age : 36
Race : White
Date : 12/18/2023
Location : SR 503 + Ray Road
City : Gratis
County : Preble
State : Ohio
Agency : Preble County SO
Officer(s) :Joshua Hamilton
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Deputy and bystander killed by unsafe driving during alleged pursuit
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
Deputy Joshua Hamilton was driving a police cruiser on road patrol. Deputy Hamilton was allegedly pursuing a vehicle at high speeds when he crashed into oncoming traffic and killed bystander Michael Eugene Gayhart, 36. When the dashcam video was released, it was visible that the deputies were driving very fast on a very narrow country road in the dark, came upon a leftward curve and apparently due to their speed could not navigate the angle of the curve and instead cut across the curve diagonally into oncoming traffic. There was a vehicle in its own lane being driven by Gayhart when the deputy cut across into oncoming traffic and caused the head-on crash in oncoming traffic. The deputy and other driver whom he hit head-on in his land, Gayhart, were both killed. Police never disclosed whom they were chasing and why and whether the chase was valid and authorized by superiors.
Of note, no pursuit can be seen in the video provided by the Preble County Sheriff’s Office to media which is linked below. It must be believed or assumed that they were pursuing someone but no vehicle ahead or elsewhere can be seen, only brief dashcam video of a cruiser racing down a small country road with the impact edited out. The curve appears 90 degrees on map and leads through minimally populated cornfields. Only an officer driving too fast to safely navigate the sharp curve cutting across it due to his unsafe speeds and without confirmation that a valid chase had ever taken place was presented to media on December 29, 2023 by police.
Preble County reportedly shut down roads for the funeral procession of the officer and celebrated him as a hero, gaslighting past the fact that the deputy had caused his own as well as the death of a bystander.
