5-8-25 Willie with Rob Sanders

Boone County case and the police shooting. But before we get to that point, you've been at this for about twenty or thirty years, Prosecutor. I think Connie Pilich is new and we anticipate she'll do what's right down the road in this case. Relative to Rodney Hinton, who is the father who purposely killed a police officer. Is there something in Kent County City of Covington. I talked to cops and Borrow Ohio. I spoke to one in Blue Ash who says their heads are on a swivel right now.

Social media is a buzz with the issue of the funeral activity starting at four four o'clock today, Whether there'll be some activist I call them murderers who may want to kill more cops by using their car as battering rams. The cops are in turmoil. How would you describe the mental emotional state of police in the city of Covington.

of the river. I think that having heads on a swivel is probably a good thing for police right now, because even though we support our police in northern Kentucky and we back the blue one hundred and ten percent all the time and every way we can, I think they still know that there is a different climate going on on the north side of the river, and we never know when the problems on the north side are going to bleed across the river on to the south side,

and certainly we don't want any of those problems. We don't want anybody attacking our police like we saw in Hamilton. County, but that's certainly a possibility. So heads on a swivel

is probably a good thing. I think the officers on the south side of the river, it just makes them appreciate that much more how much better it is to work in a law enforcement friendly community like we have and throughout nord of Kentucky, not just Kenton County, but Boone Campbell County as well, and the furthest south you get in northern Kentucky. You know, it doesn't change. It stays very much pro police throughout the commonwealth, really especially

the north end of the Commonwealth. But that said, Willie, you know, I think that all officers have an eye across the river and what's going on. I think that they feel the tension, and certainly they sympathize with the officers in Hamilton County and southern Ohio, and they know what they're going through and they share in that anxiety

that those officers have to be feeling. Right now, you know, this Hamilton County Sheriff's deputy was doing nothing but directing traffic for graduation, something that should have been a happy occasion. Wasn't even his agency that was involved in the police shooting a day earlier, and yet he paid the price when this murderer just flat out attacked him and killed him in cold blood. And we are at a crossroads, I think for the new prosecutor's office. As you mentioned,

I've been doing this for almost two decades now. Next year will be my twentieth year. I think the one thing that I can say about law enforcement in one of Kentucky is they know me well and they know what my decisions would be. If this case had happened, this attack on this police officer had happened in Kenton County, nobody would be asking questions about what the charges would be or whether or not the death penalty would be pursued.

That I have a track record of going to trial and protecting our police officers in the dangerous work that they do. Anytime someone is foolish enough to attack them, our police officers in this community know that we will be coming down hard on any of those offenders. And that certainly would be the case, and I'm hopeful it'll be the same in Hamilton County. But this is a defining moment, I think for the new Hamilton County prosecutor. All eyes are upon her office.

well respected. At the site of the Edgewood, Kentucky. According to media accounts, the car was hoisted from Edgewood, Kentucky, went across state lines and they were sitting in that parking lot and the police roll up because there was a tracker on the Kia. And at that point these four individuals knew exactly what was going to happen next. They were going to be arrested unless they unless they ran.

It's a wooded area East Price Hill, not much wooded area and East Price Ill, but there was one here with the condo projects. Three of the individuals got out of the car and ran toward the woods, leaving the dumpsters alone, which might be an area that could be a firing position for someone with a weapon. There was one of the four by the way, There was two guns in the car. The one was left behind but Ryan Hinton picked up a nine millimeter with an extended mag.

He got out of the car, reached back in and grabbed the gun. That's number one. The cops are there, the sirens are on, the lights are on. Number two. He took about four steps and fell. Some said he the extended mag hit his hip and he lost his balance or whatever, and he fell and then the gun was separate and apart from his body. And that's when officers started yelling gun, gun gun. Not the one who did the shooting, by the way, but he heard I'm

sure he heard gun gun. They were yelling gun gun gun. And then Ryan Hinton secondly picked up that nine millimeter. Instead of running away with his with his brothers in crime, he decided to pick it up and run between two dumpsters. He's the only one that did that. I would say, to get a firing position. And is he exited the

dumpster within two seconds of saying gun, gun gun. The officers who did the shooting looked into his hands quickly and they drew their service weapons because of gun, gun gun. It was going to be an ugly situation. And Ryan Hinton kind of ran parallel or a little bit left toward the officer then took a step to the right kind of break down from a law enforcement angle, why that would be a justified shooting.

of cars is at a plague status right now. It's every single day, not just in northern Kentucky, but all Greater Cincinnati because a lot of the car thefts that we are seeing are stolen cars that are coming across the river to northern Kentucky and they're being dumped over here, or they're running from the police over here, and then there's as soon as they ditch the car on this side of the river, they steal somebody's car on this side of the river and ride it back into Ohio.

And then you know, situations just like this are routine now. Part of the problem, I think stems from the fact that the community I guess I would blame it largely on the media, but certainly the community is starting to

expect police to not chase car thieves. And I can't tell you how many times I see police chases that have been terminated or re police reports about chases that were terminated, because in large part, every time anything goes wrong with the police chase, whether it's a crash or god forbid, somebody gets hurt, the media is instead of saying why was this person running or why did this person steal a car, they're asking why were the police

chasing this car thief? And if As a result, police obviously they don't like the criticism, so they've started adopting

policies of not getting in vehicle pursuits. And as a result, the criminals know that they see the police terminate the police chase when they're in a stolen vehicle, they see them shut off the emergency lights, they see them do a U turn as they get on the bridge, and they know they're not going to chase them into Ohio, or they know they're not going to chase them into Kentucky. So not only do they steal more vehicles, but they tell all their felling car stealing friends. Hey, the police

aren't going to chase this anymore. If you're in a stolen vehicle, just don't stop and I'll keep running, you know, keep running, and all you got to do is get to the river and you're Scott three. And that's that is part of the plague that we have seen all across probably the country, but certainly the greater Cincinnati area. This is the problem that is continuing to grow, and it's only getting worse, and it's going to result in more situations just like this one that ended in the

death of this eighteen year old. But first thing you got to ask after the stolen car issue, The first thing you got to ask, what are they doing in a stolen car? Then you got to ask why are their guns in the car? Then you got to ask what's the reason if you know that the police are rolling up and you're sitting in a stolen car, run because you don't get arrested. I don't advise that, but

I certainly understand that thinking. But if you're not intending to shoot it out with the police, leave the gun in the car, especially in this case, as you've said, he apparently went back for the gun. I've not seen that yet, But if he in fact went back to the car for the gun, that's a big indication in my mind that he intends to use the gun. The extended magazine that was in the gun certainly makes you

wonder why does he need an extended magazine. He's using a magazine that's too long for the frame of the gun, so it sticks out the bottom. The only reason to have a magazine like that is if you intend to fire more shots than the gun is designed to hold. Then he once he gets out of the car, if he falls and drops the gun and picks it up again again, you already know the police are there. You already know that they are coming after you. The only reason to pick up that gun is if you intend

to shoot it out with police. Now, the part of the body camera that I have seen, and I admittedly have not seen all the body cams from start to finish. I've only seen what's been put in the media because I don't it's not my case. I don't have access to it. But we have to remember that decisions on all humans are made in fractions of a second, and

usually it's an accepted figure in law enforcement circles. That it takes about a quarter of a second for a gun to go from down to point it at someone, It takes about the same amount of time for a police officer to decide, my life is in danger, I need to pull the trigger. She have to think that when this kid is running in between these dumpsters and the police officers running at an angle to intercept him.

Even though with the very last fraction of a second he changed directions to where he was headed at least at an angle that would have been away from the officer, not towards the officer, he is still just before that decision closed the distance between himself and the police officer.

When you're closing the distance, in other words, coming towards the officer, the officer has that much less time to react, and reaction time is hard enough to deal with that as it is, but as that time gets smaller and smaller, police have less and less time to decide whether or not they feel the need to protect their own life. So, in all likelihood, the decision of the officer to pull the trigger and the decision the teenager to change angles

of flight happened at about the same time. But those decisions take place in a fraction of a second, and unfortunately we see a tragic outcome when the young man lost his life. But I'm not ready to say that it was the wrong decision on the police officer by any stretch of the imagination. Because he still had a subject fleeing from a stolen car with a loaded firearm closing the distance between him and the officer. That officer

does not have to wait until he is shot. He doesn't even have to wait till the gun is pointed at him in order for that to be a valid threat to that officer's life, because, like I said, it only takes a quarter of a second for that gun to go from pointed down or pointed some other direct then that the officer to point it at the officer, and it's the triggers being fired when it comes at the officer and he hasn't fired first, then he doesn't

get time to react. And if that bullet hits him in the head or in the neck, or some other important artery in his body that's not covered by his bulletproof vest, he doesn't get to go home to his wife and kids. So the notion of do not fire until fired upon is something that you see in a top gun movie, but it's not real life for police officers who are out there risking their lives for a community on a daily basis.

that the gun was pointed at the cop. It appears that appears, and I use the word appears, put it in capital letters, that the gun may not have been pointed at the cop. But is that and therefore he was running away with the gun? Now is that important if the officer in the heat of the moment, within a quarter of a second, a cop doesn't have to get shot before you can return fire. And so called activists may seize upon that point of a misstatement by

a police officer. Is that relevant to you as a prosecutor.

in this business. Will he so it's relevant, it's something to consider it, sure, But the officer's relaying his recollection of what he saw, and if that gun barrel crossed his path, in other words, if that gun barrel was pointed at him at any point in time in again, what a second, maybe two seconds between when that young man came into view and when the officer decided to fire his weapon, was the gun barrel pointed to at him at the time that he actually pulled the trigger,

or that the teenager actually got shot. Maybe not, or it doesn't appear so from it, But again, we're talking about changes that happen in a fraction of a second. We've seen all different kinds of cases, both locally and nationally, where someone points a gun at a police officer and then turns to run away, but the officer's already made the decision to pull the trigger, and so the bullet ends up hitting the person in their side or hitting the person in their back. It doesn't mean it's a

bad shoot. What matters is not where the bullet hit. What matters is was the person posing a threat to the officer's life, And anybody coming out a police officer with a gun is a threat regardless of where that gun is pointed. That I don't know. I think that's something that's been driven home maybe by questions that people in the media ask, like where was the gun pointed? It doesn't matter where is the gun pointed in point two five of a second, you know, a quarter of

a second. By the way, will if anybody out there wants to figure out how long a quarter of a second is, blink your eyes, because it takes you about a quarter of a second to blink your eyes. That's about how much time officers have to react when someone goes to point a gun at them. So I certainly understand, you know, we pay these officers to go into dangerous situations so the average citizens like you and me don't

have to. But if I was one of those officers in those dangerous situations right that we've asked them to be in, I'm not going to wait until I am actually shot before I'd depend my life.

is in Kenton County. You had three individuals, depending upon what the fact patter is, stealing cars to Kenton County getting into Ohio County. Are you pursuing any investigation for Austin and Bullicks and Grace gregsby the three eighteen and nineteen year olds that were with Hinton stealing the car. If the facts turn out to be that case, is that something you're interested in pursuing or not.

I've already issued one arrest warrant earlier this week for somebody doing the exact same thing. But that's definitely something that we would pursue if we have evidence to establish probable cause that there was a felony theft in Kenton County. Obviously, there's certain elements of that offense that would have to be met. We'd have to be able to prove they actually stole the car here, not that they just found it over in Ohio somewhere. We'd have to prove that

the car was over one thousand dollars. But if we can establish those things, you know, we still prosecute criminals in Kenton County, Willie. I know that's a novel concept compared to some jurisdictions in this country, but I assure you in Kenton County we still pursue all felony offenses whenever we have enough evidence to go forward.

And by the way, looking a lot left to our right, we have white smoke, we have a new pope, and we're going to go to ABC News coverage chair in a few minutes and may be anywhere from ten to twenty minutes. Thirty minutes from now when the Pope appears on the balcony. But nonetheless, we have a new pope. We have white smoke. Bill Cunningham News Radio seven hundred Wow