HANCOCK COUNTY, Ohio — Bodycam footage was released Friday detailing the arrest of Dante Tate, a suspect in Thursday's police pursuit that left a Bluffton police officer dead.
The video shows a police cruiser colliding with the car Tate was driving, sending him off the side of the road.
Officers commanded Tate to exit the car with his hands up. He complied and was taken into custody.
Tate was one of three suspects arrested following the multi-county chase that caused the death of officer Dominic Francis.
They are:
- Emin Johnson, 20, charged with involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; and failure to comply, a third-degree felony. His bond has been set at $500,000.
- Zachary Love, 21, charged with receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony; failure to comply, a third-degree felony; and possession of deadly weapons while under detention, a third-degree felony. His bond has been set at $100,000
- Dante Tate, 19, charged with receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony; and fleeing and eluding, a third-degree felony. His bond has been set at $350,000.
Johnson and Love are at the Hancock County Justice Center, while Tate is being held at the Medina County Jail.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the chase began at around 2 a.m. Thursday when a trooper in Marion County spotted a black sedan speeding on Route 23. The car continued north on Route 23 and then got on Route 15 before turning south on I-75, where a highway patrol trooper from the Findlay post spotted them at around 2:20 a.m., Sgt. Brice Nihiser of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said during a news conference.
Officers said the suspects were going more than 100 mph, reaching speeds of 120-130 mph.
Francis, 42, was attempting to place stop strips on the interstate when he was struck and killed by the suspect vehicle at around 2:30 a.m., Nihiser said.
According to police, the suspects then got out of the car and fled on foot, before stealing another vehicle at around 3 a.m. nearby along County Road 29.
Officers from multiple state and local law enforcement agencies converged on the area as the sun rose, patrolling fields, searching yards, and sending K9s to look for the suspects.
Love was arrested near the scene of the car theft and Tate was captured in Elyria after a highway patrol trooper spotted the vehicle on I-71.
Johnson was arrested in Hancock County sometime around 1 p.m.
All lanes of I-75 in both directions were closed between State Route 103 and State State Route 235 and motorists heading south from Toledo toward Lima were urged to avoid the area. The interstate reopened shortly before 10 a.m.