Suspect in LugNutz bar shooting in Fairfield gets trial date

Robert C. Strong, 44, of Hamilton was taken by medical helicopter to University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer McElfresh set Galliher’s bond at $1 million during his arraignment in November.

Galliher was back in court Thursday for a pretrial hearing where his trial was scheduled for April 25.

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.

Dash camera video of the responding officer’s vehicle showed a gray Ford vehicle, believed to be the getaway car. The officer spotted 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 driver and only person charged in Strong’s shooting death. He is seen cooperating with officers’ commands, walking backward from the vehicle 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.

Police said it does not appear that Vierling and Golston were directly involved in the shooting.