Southwest Ohio man sentenced for nearly hitting officer, fireworks spectators in July

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

A 30-year-old Dayton man was sentenced Wednesday to spend the next five years in prison for nearly running down a police officer and pedestrians who had gathered to watch Fourth of July fireworks.

Spectators were inside a barricaded section of the roadway on North Alex Road in West Carrollton July 4, 2019, to see Moraine’s Star Spangled Boom fireworks show launched nearby Wax Park.

A West Carrollton police officer was directing traffic when he said Brian Lamar Wilson Jr. was driving too fast and tried to get him to stop. Instead, Wilson accelerated his truck and then ran over a traffic barrier and a metal road closed sign with cones to continue on the closed portion of North Alex Road, according to court documents.

“The officer had to jump out of the path of the vehicle to avoid being struck,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. stated in a release.

Wilson continued driving, ignoring multiple officers’ orders to stop. He eventually stopped and ran from the pickup on Terrace Court, where he jumped over a fence, entered a home through the back door and came out the front door where he was arrested, the release stated.

Wilson was convicted Aug. 19 of felonious assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and trespass in a habitation.

“This defendant has a lengthy criminal record,” Heck stated. “He has been given multiple opportunities by the court for rehabilitation, but he has continued to break the law. Thankfully, his reckless actions didn’t injure any of the police officers or the families who had gathered to watch the fireworks.”

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