Around 11:50 a.m. on Jan. 29, a Moraine police sergeant noticed a Jeep that didn’t have its plates displayed properly, according to Kettering Municipal Court records.
When the sergeant turned on his overhead lights for a traffic stop, the Jeep pulled into a Shell gas station on Ohio 741.
The driver, later identified as Mowery, drove away as the sergeant got out of his cruiser, according to municipal court documents.
The sergeant did not pursue Mowery, Moraine police Sgt. Andrew Parish said.
Mowery drove north onto Kettering Boulevard, going against one-way traffic.
After approximately 1.57 miles, he hit a Honda Fit head-on near Edgefield Street, according to police.
Parish said police and fire dispatchers received multiple calls reporting the crash and stating Mowery ran from the Jeep.
Police responded to the crash and began providing medical care to a passenger in the Jeep and the driver of the Honda.
Fire personnel attempted life-saving care for the driver of the Honda, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Moraine police identified the driver of the Honda as 60-year-old Richard Craft of Miamisburg.
Medics transported Mowery’s passenger to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police found Mowery behind a nearby business and arrested him. He was taken to the hospital to be evaluated before being booked into the Montgomery County Jail.
“Once again a driver flees from police causing a fatal crash,” said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. “In this case, the officer wasn’t even pursuing the defendant, but he drove off at high speed, going the wrong way, and ended up killing a completely innocent victim.”
Mowery was driving with a suspended license, according to municipal court documents.
His bond was previously set at $250,000. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.
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