DaytonDailyNews.com

GALLIPOLIS, Ohio — A probation officer died after swimming into the Ohio River to chase a fleeing suspect, authorities said Wednesday.

Divers recovered the body of David Poling, 32, about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Police Chief Clinton Patterson said. That was more than nine hours after he and a police officer started chasing the man, who was from Springfield.

Poling, who worked for the Gallipolis Municipal Court, and the police officer stopped a man on a city street Tuesday afternoon, Patterson said.

The man, Joseph Harris, 22, of Springfield, ran a few hundred yards and jumped into the river from a bank 10 to 15 feet above the water, Patterson said. It was not clear why Harris fled, he said. He has been charged with obstructing official business.

The officers chased the suspect on foot, and Poling followed him into the river, police said. According to witnesses, Poling went under water about halfway to an island and didn't surface, Patterson said.

The Gallipolis officer and a State Highway Patrol trooper then jumped into the river but were unable to rescue Poling.

The suspect swam to Gallipolis Island and was arrested about two hours later by police who reached the island in boats, the chief said.

Poling, of Mercerville, previously was an officer with the Gallipolis police and the Gallia County Sheriff's Office.

The police chief, also a rescue diver for the department, said he didn't notice any rapid currents or obstructions in the water when he was searching for Poling. An autopsy was planned for Wednesday afternoon.

Harris was being held in the Gallia County Jail on $200,000 bond. He did not have an attorney, a jail corrections officer said.

Patterson said the investigation was in the early stages.

"We really haven't been able to talk to the other officer involved yet," he said. "We're basically giving him a chance to get his thoughts together because (the officers) were close friends."