Man shot by trooper was stopped 6 times by patrol in less than 2 years

Hours after being released from jail, a Granville man was shot and killed by a state trooper following a pursuit early Monday morning, marking the last of several interactions the suspect had with the Ohio State Highway Patrol in less than two years.

Joseph Bernhard-William Kiser, 21, led the trooper on a nine-minute pursuit starting around 1:14 a.m. from U.S. 35 through Dayton and into Trotwood.

RELATED: Man fatally shot by trooper had just been released from area jail

The pursuit ended on Ohio 49 near the Olive Road intersection when Kiser stopped his 2014 Hyundai Veloster in the middle of the roadway, exited the car and approached the trooper pointing a .357 revolver, according to the patrol.

“The trooper took cover behind the patrol car and began to issue verbal orders to drop the weapon,” the patrol’s release states.

According to the patrol, Kiser ignored the commands and the trooper fired three shots, striking the suspect three times. Kiser was pronounced dead at the scene. The trooper was not injured.

The trooper’s identity has not been released. The patrol is conducting an investigation into the incident and has not released further details.

When contacted by phone on Monday, Kiser’s father declined to comment for this story.

Kiser’s address of record is in Granville, east of Columbus. It’s unclear why he was in the Dayton area, but hours before the pursuit he had been released from the Tri-County Regional Jail near Mechanicsburg on Sunday.

Kiser was booked into the jail on Oct. 18, serving two days for a traffic case out of Madison County Municipal Court, according to Scott Springhetti, the jail’s executive director.

Kiser also had several previous traffic cases out of Licking County. Court records there show Kiser was cited seven times from May 2018 to September 2019.

Five of the citations were for speeding, two in which he was traveling more than 30 mph over the speed limit, according to the Licking County Municipal Court records.

The highway patrol was the reporting agency in five of the cases, all of which resulted in Kiser paying more than $1,800 in fines and court costs, according to the records.

Kiser’s death comes two months after a state trooper shot a suspect who ran away from a traffic stop near Middletown. Devon Marion, 22, of Middletown, was shot twice and survived after he struggled with the trooper during the chase. The trooper, Michael Williams, was cleared of any wrongdoing.

In addition, troopers have been involved in three shootings in the Dayton area that resulted in fatalities since 1997, according to Dayton Daily News records.

In July 2017, a man who fled from authorities in Hamilton County, where he stabbed his wife, was shot and killed during a confrontation with troopers in the parking lot at McDonald’s in Vandalia.

In November 2015, Trooper Brandon Chaney fatally shot 22-year-old Justin McHenry in the parking lot of the Celina Police Department when McHenry attempted to order the trooper out of his cruiser at gunpoint.

In July 1997, George Snyder fatally shot himself after being wounded during a gun fight with Trooper Angela Watson along I-70 in Preble County.

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