Man accused of shooting Middletown police officer moved back to prison

A man accused of shooting a Middletown police officer on Aug. 31 following a chase from Middletown to Warren County is now in prison.

Officer Dennis Jordan and the suspect, Christopher J. Hubbard, were shot shortly before 5 p.m. after a pursuit that began in the area of 18th Avenue in Middletown and ended in the 2600 block of Mason-Montgomery Road in Turtlecreek Twp.

Jordan was shot in the arm, finger and right leg. He was released from the hospital a day later and has returned to work on light duty.

Hubbard, 35, received multiple gunshot wounds when eight officers returned fire, according to officials. He was released from University of Cincinnati Medical Center and booked into the Butler County Jail on Sept. 13.

He was held for five days without bond on what local officials called a parole violation and outstanding warrants from Fairfield Municipal Court for allegedly driving without a license and from Hamilton Municipal Court for contempt of court and obstructing official business.

On Sept. 14, Hubbard was video arraigned in Hamilton Municipal Court on new charge of failure to comply with an order or signal of police, which stemmed from an incident in Hamilton on Aug. 26. The next day that charge was withdrawn by the prosecution, according to court records.

Hubbard was released from Butler County Jail on Sept. 18 and is now at the Correctional Receptions Center, were he is being held on an alleged violation of post release control, according to JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

He was earlier released from prion on April 19 on post release control after serving 18 months for having weapons under disability and a drug charge. A hearing will be scheduled on the post release control violation, Smith said.

The chase and shooting incident is under investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Investigation because there are multiple jurisdictions involved. The investigation will be turned over the the Warren Prosecutor’s Office for presentation to a grand jury.

Butler County Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said Hubbard violated his post release control and will await the results of the Aug. 31 incident investigation in prison rather that a local jail.

“We told them it would be preferable for them to just violate him and send him back to prison for now until we are done with what we are doing, that way I don’t have to house him. We can let Warren County and the prosecutor over there and BCI do their investigation and then we will deal with that when they are done,” Dwyer said.

He said Hubbard’s medical issues the sheriff’s office’s involvement in the investigation made it a good move.

“Obviously he has certain medical conditions and the prison has certain medical facilities and we are involved in the investigation and the shooting so generally we try to get him housed someplace else. So it was the easiest thing to allow this to run its course and return him to prison where he had time on the shelf,” Dwyer said.

Hubbard was wanted on the parole violation when the incident happened. He was also a person of interest in a Hamilton unsolved homicide, according to Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit.

About the Author