CINCINNATI — Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve announced on Tuesday that no charges will be filed against WCPO 9 Chief Meteorologist Steve Raleigh in connection to a June incident outside the Montgomery Inn boathouse that involved Raleigh and at least one member of his family.
According to a police incident report, officers were called to the scene of a fight in the parking lot of the Riverside Drive restaurant just after 9 p.m. on June 22. Doug Morrow, 79, Lois Morrow, 76, and Troy Morrow, 40, were hurt.
"Suspect approached victim #1 striking him with a closed fist in the head knocking him to the ground," causing injuries, the police report of the incident reads. "Victim #2 and victim #3 while attempting to aid victim #1 was struck and shoved to the ground by the suspect."
The police report was heavily redacted, with no information about the nature of the injuries, but family of the victims say Doug Morrow was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion, and Lois Morrow was hospitalized with a concussion, fractured skull, brain bleed, a cut that required staples in the back of her head and a lens detached from her eye.
No charges have been filed. There was only one suspect listed on the police incident report; their identification was redacted.
"During the course of this investigation, it has been determined that criminal charges are not warranted against Mr. Steve Raleigh, as there is no evidence that he violated any criminal law," Tekulve said in a press release. "Accordingly, as to Mr. Steve Raleigh, this investigation is closed. All legal counsel representing the various parties involved have been notified of this decision."
Tekulve said that his office will present evidence to the Hamilton County Grand Jury "in the upcoming weeks" to determine whether any charges will be filed against others involved. Tekulve was appointed a special prosecutor to handle the investigation after Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers cited a "conflict of interest" in overseeing the case.
The daughter of the injured couple posted video of the incident to Facebook, in which Raleigh can be seen. Arguing can be heard off-camera, followed by an escalation of shouting and what appears to be physical contact between multiple people, but it does not show any clear-cut assault. After the scuffle, the video shows the older man and woman on the ground. The woman is seen bleeding from her head.
You can watch the full video here:
The family held a press conference with their lawyer, Konrad Kircher, to tell their side of the story and call for accountability. Married couple Doug and Lois Morrow and their son Troy Morrow all say they were injured in the incident that never should have happened.
They said the assault stemmed from a car accident in the parking lot when Doug was driving with Lois in the passenger seat of their 2005 Ford F-150. They were picking up their son, Troy, from Montgomery Inn where Troy worked. They picked him up from the entrance to the restaurant and began to pull back out of the 180-degree driveway to get back to the road when they said the car was struck by a black Cadillac Escalade in the front right coming from the parking lot area.
One person got out of the Escalade, the family said.
Troy said an argument then ensued with someone else who came from the direction of the restaurant, insisting that police not be called and that they just exchange insurance. Kircher said just 2 months before, Doug had been burned after agreeing to just exchange insurance and not call the police and that ended up in him paying for damages to his car.
Doug also suspected the person driving was drinking, and wanted to call police, his daughter said in a Facebook post. The police incident report also listed the suspect as possibly being under the influence of alcohol.
Troy said while he was arguing with the person who had come from the restaurant, he recalled hearing "No one's gonna hit my dad" before he said he was "clocked" in the head. He said the person then jumped on top of him and choked him. Doug said upon seeing this, he tried to get that person off of Troy, hitting him. Doug said he didn't know who the person was who jumped on his son. Kircher said the person on top of Troy either punched or pushed him away so hard that he fell back to the pavement, semi-conscious.
Lois said upon seeing the commotion, she "tapped someone on the shoulder," asking for help not knowing who it was, and then "saw that arm come around and punch me." She was knocked to the ground, bleeding from her head and vomiting because of the concussion, Kircher said. Lois woke up in the hospital two days later, not remembering a thing, but said she was "scared to death" seeing all the blood. She was in the hospital for four days in total, she said.
"I don’t know what reason that guy had to hit me like that," Lois said holding back tears. "All I did was ask for help. I didn’t say no bad names to him”
Troy said the violence was unprovoked.
“I never even lifted my hands even so much as a defensive manner," Troy said of the entire encounter.
Jeff Brogan, Vice President and General Manager of WCPO 9, released the following statement:
"The official findings regarding Steve’s involvement announced today are consistent with what he told us about the incident from the beginning.
Steve will soon return to WCPO 9 as our chief meteorologist. Our responsibility as Steve’s employer was to wait for the investigators’ final determination of his role in the incident. Our responsibility as a news organization has been and will be to report on the incident with fair and impartial coverage. We remain committed to that."
Steve Raleigh released the following statement:
"I was notified of the special prosecutors' decision today. I appreciate the validation regarding my involvement.
I want to thank family, friends, colleagues and viewers for their patience and support. I look forward to returning to work soon. I’ve missed serving the people of this great city.
Because this is now going to the Hamilton County Grand Jury, I will refrain from commenting further at this time."
