Man accused of ramming Kettering cruisers pleads guilty to charges

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A Dayton man accused of ramming two Kettering police cruisers during a traffic stop in January has pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.

Alexander Love, 24, pleaded guilty in a pair of plea agreements to one count of vandalism and one lesser included offense of attempted failure to comply with the signal or order of a police officer. As part of the agreements, one vandalism charge was dismissed.

Alexander Love

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

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Credit: Montgomery County Jail

The agreements were filed Friday in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.

The charges could include fines of up to $7,500 and prison terms of up to 30 months. He could also face up to two years of on non-mandatory post-release control and up to five years of community control sanctions.

Love is not in the Montgomery County Jail.

The charges reach back to Jan. 23, when Love ran a red light at the intersection of East Stroop Road and Woodman Drive, according to Kettering police.

An officer followed Love, and reportedly noticed his vehicle swerving enough for its wheels to cross the center line. However, when officers activated their lights to try to pull him over, Love didn’t stop and continued at the same speed, according to the incident report.

The officer kept following Love, who slowed his vehicle near Stonebridge apartments and made a U-turn, at which point the officer turned off their lights and stopped following, police said.

A different officer saw Love’s vehicle going north on Woodman Drive and pull into a Shell gas station on E. Dorothy Lane. Multiple police units responded to try to intercept him, the report said.

Love then backed into a police cruiser, causing extensive damage, then tried to drive forward and hit the door of another cruiser, according to a police log. Police were then able to arrest Love without further incident.

One of the cruisers had a damaged front bumper, headlight and hood, while the other vehicle had damage to the driver-side door.

Police asked Love if he saw their cruiser when they first tried to stop him, and he replied that he thought officers were trying to go around him, the incident report said. He also reportedly said that he confused the accelerator for the gear shift on his vehicle when he rammed the two cruisers.

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