Officer Chris Kelly
MIDDLETOWN — If there is one thing Middletown police Officer Chris Kelly has learned on the job, it is never to underestimate the powers of observation.
Someone had broken into the home of two women, taking only their tubs of prescription pills the evening of Oct. 10. The women advised Kelly their neighbor, Lacey Scott, 20, had been acting strangely in the home earlier that day. When Kelly approached Scott and her boyfriend, 45-year-old Gregory Gurley, he knew immediately their behavior was suspicious.
“You can tell a lot from a person’s body language,” he said. “When your adrenaline is up, you’re nervous and your hand starts to go to your face a lot. And they were thinking a lot about an answer they should know.”
Several hours of questioning at the police station finally led to the couple admitting they had taken the drugs. When the medications — mostly meant to treat heart problems and diabetes — proved not to be ones Scott and Gurley could use to get high, Kelly said they told him what Dumpster they had thrown them in. He was able to recover most of the medication and return it to the victims.
Scott and Gurley were charged with burglary, tampering with evidence and theft of drugs. Both their cases were sent Oct. 29 to a Butler County grand jury.
“That’s what I like about my job,” Kelly said. “I like coming in and not knowing exactly what my job will bring me. It is something different every day.”
The incident is one of the reasons Kelly, 39, was named the Middletown Division of Police Officer of the Month for October. Fellow officers nominate individuals for the award and then vote on who should receive it, according to police.
While he loves doing police work, Kelly said he also enjoys teaching kids about what it is like to be an officer. He knew he wanted to join the force since he was a teenager in the Police Explorers Program. Now he is an adviser, and said the pride he feels watching his kids succeed and learn what it means to be disciplined and work with a team is just as rewarding as the job itself.
“I think there needs to be positive things for teenage kids to do,” he said. “It helps them decide what they are going to do with their life. I see good things come out if it.”
This is the third time Kelly has been named officer of the month. He received the award in March and November last year.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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