COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Police officers, firefighters and community members are pulling for a police officer who was struck by a driver Friday evening.
Dale Woods, a nearly 15-year veteran with the Colerain Police Department, was working the scene of a crash when he was struck by a driver in a pickup.
As Woods remains in critical condition at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, police officers and firefighters have gathered to support Woods. Battalion Chief Steve Conn said he hopes being together will ease the pain.
"Anytime the police or firefighters have anything of significance with illness or injury or something catastrophic like what we're experiencing right now, we just find it comfortable to be with our own people, our own guys," Conn said.
Woods' 15 years on the police force aren't the only service he's done for his city: He was also a Colerain firefighter for many years.
Conn said he's known Woods for more than 20 years; they served the communities in Colerain together for over a decade. Although Woods made the transition to police officer 15 years ago, he always came back to the station and kept in touch, Conn said.
"Some of us old timers, we call him Ickey," said Conn. "He'd come in the station. We'd call him Ickey Woods. Occasionally, he'd do the dance for us."
Regardless of station, rank or department - fire or police - Conn said everyone comes together to support one another because they're like one big family.
The people of Colerain haven't missed a beat either. Members of the community have already begun laying flowers at the site of Friday night's crash.
"Colerain is a little bit like Mayberry," Conn said. "Our citizens love our firefighters, our cops."
