RIPLEY, Ohio — During a more than two-hour-long meeting in Ripley's small town hall meeting room packed with residents, police chief Corey Herren laid out all of the facts as he knew them in regard to former Ripley police officer Caleb Savage's indictment on charges of reckless homicide and failure to provide aid.
The charges stem from Savage's pursuit of Ryan Mitchell on March 12. Mitchell crashed and died after Savage pursued him.
Herren first played 911 calls from an apparent hit-and-run on Budig Drive in Aberdeen that initiated the day's events.
"Honey, they tore the end of my grandmother's yard out," the caller told a 911 dispatcher.
Herren said Savage found a Dodge Charger matching the description of the vehicle heading into Kentucky, and played audio recordings of the radio reports.
"In pursuit," Savage said in the recording. "Car is in and out of the ditch all over the roadway. Speed is about 60 miles an hour."
#NOW: The small Ripley Town Hall meeting room is full ahead of a presentation by Police Chief Herren regarding now indicted officer Caleb Savage in connection with the death of Ryan Mitchell during a pursuit on March 12.@WCPO pic.twitter.com/LpbhwhSvP3
— Sean DeLancey (@SeanDeLanceyTV) June 6, 2023
In his report to Ripley police, Savage claimed the car lost him and he never saw any indication it had crashed along KY-3056 so he returned to Ripley.
"There's multiple areas this vehicle could have turned off," he said in the recording. "I've lost him."
Mason County deputies later found the car Savage was chasing on fire, with Mitchell's body inside.
"Just to confirm, that male is DOA," one responder reported to dispatchers. "Vehicle is fully involved."
Kentucky State Police began investigating the crash, but Herren saiddetectives never indicated they were considering bringing criminal charges against Savage.
Herren said if they had, he would have suspended Savage sooner.
"I'm discouraged that they were not more sharing during the process," he said. "That's all I'll say about that."
Instead, Savage resigned from his position with the police department on May 26, when he was indicted. On May 30, court records show a warrant was issued for his arrest and on May 31 Savage turned himself in, according to officials at the Mason County jail.
Herren pledged changes were coming to the police department and that this event would accelerate plans to overhaul hiring and pursuit policy. In addition, Herren said the department will reduce its responses in Kentucky — though the department is still under a mutual aid agreement and will still have to respond to some necessary calls.
"They've been told that we won't be responding over there," he said.
The meeting didn't win everyone over — like former mayor Tom Leonard.
"Things need to change," Leonard said, "and in order for things to change you need to get rid of the people who's there."
Cassie Mitchell was concerned after learning Savage had been hired despite having faced two criminal charges in Ohio.
RELATED: Former officer facing reckless homicide has been charged in Ohio before
An April 2019 charge of unlawful contact with a minor in Fayette County was dropped after the victim declined to testify, and October charges filed in Clark County of domestic violence and assault were pleaded down to disorderly conduct.
At the meeting, it wasn't clear if a thorough background check had been conducted on Savage as he was hired under a previous administration at the department.
"I would actually like a full investigation and background check on all police in Ripley right now," Mitchell said. "I don't feel safe at all."
Herren said the department has hired a company, Lexipol, to assist them in updating their policies and procedures, but it would likely take weeks to see results.
Savage is currently out on a $10,000 cash bond and is scheduled for an arraignment in Mason County on June 9.
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