2 Enon officers injured in crash while investigating violent robbery

Two Enon police officers were injured when their patrol car struck a deer as they investigated a violent robbery.

The crash has left the Enon Police Department with only two patrol cars in their fleet, Chief Lew Wilcox said.

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Officers responded to the first block of North Xenia Avenue just before 10 p.m. Tuesday and found a man injured.

The victim told officers that three adult men, all wearing ski masks and carrying handguns, had rushed his door and demanded money from him.

The three men stole the victim’s wallet and cell phone and then assaulted him, Wilcox said.

Violent crimes like this robbery are a rare 9-1-1 call for police in the small village, he said.

“We don’t see that around here very often,” he said.

The victim needed medical assistance and was taken by Mad River Twp. medics to Springfield Regional Medical Center.

No suspects have been named in the robbery case, Wilcox said, but officers are following good leads and hope to have an arrest by the end of the week.

Officers also went to the hospital to follow up with the man for their investigation, Wilcox said.

On their way back from the hospital, a deer ran out into the roadway and struck the patrol vehicle.

Debris in the car, Wilcox said, plus the impact of airbags, injured the two officers.

“They were really scraped up,” he said.

Both officers didn’t report to work Wednesday because of their injuries, the chief said, but are expected to be back today.

Damage to the 2015 patrol car was extensive, the chief said, with initial estimates of close to $15,000 of repairs needed.

“We’ll probably have to total the car,” he said.

Enon police started the year with four patrol vehicles, Wilcox said. Then engine problems took one car out of service and this crash leaves the police in the village with only two operable cruisers.

“We try to buy new cars only every four or five years,” he said.

The village will work with their insurance to try to quickly replace the damaged cruiser, Wilcox said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Enon Police at 937-864-5577 or Crime Stoppers at 937-222- STOP.

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