Editor
What began as a traffic stop became a police chase and ended with a man abandoning a child and running off on May 23.
An Amelia police officer attempted to perform a traffic stop on a car driven by Samantha Taylor, 26, but she fled into the Quail Creek subdivision. The officer pursued, but Taylor got to speeds higher than 70 miles per hour, so the officer stopped because of safety considerations, said Chief Jeff Wood.
The officer last saw Taylor turning right onto state Route 125 towards Walmart. A couple minutes later, a call came in that there was a crash near Walmart. Taylor and Preston Denny, 27 of Felicity, a passenger, fled the vehicle, Denny with a 10-month-old child, Wood said.
Taylor was caught by pedestrians and held until an Amelia police officer arrived and arrested her.
She is charged with fleeing and eluding, a third degree felony, endangering children, a first degree misdemeanor, obstructing official business, a second degree misdemeanor, reckless operation, a fourth degree misdemeanor, driving under FRA suspension, an unclassified misdemeanor and three minor misdemeanors: two counts of turn and stop signals and one count of violation when being passed.
Charges against Denny were handled by the Pierce Township Police Department because Denny only committed crimes at the scene of the crash, which was in Pierce Township.
Denny fled the scene of the crash and left the baby in the woods so he could escape. He was arrested later that day in Hamilton County. He lied to the arresting officer about who he was, so Hamilton County filed a charge of obstructing justice, a fourth degree misdemeanor, said Pierce Township Lt. Edward Dye.
Since Hamilton County filed a charge, Denny will have to be adjudicated there before being transferred to Clermont County, Dye said.
Pierce Township filed a charge of endangering children, a first degree misdemeanor. However, Denny also had outstanding warrants from Clermont County involving a separate incident, Dye said.