HELRIGGLE WAS ARMED, REPORT SAYS

Inquiry Of Preble County Slaying Ends

DAYTON | Clayton Helriggle had a pistol -- not a blue plastic cup -- in his
hand the night a police officer shot and killed him during a drug raid at
Helriggle's rural Preble County farmhouse, according to a report by
Montgomery County sheriff's investigators released Wednesday.

The report describes how a Preble County sheriff's unit, specially trained
to handle high-risk situations, changed its plans at the last minute. The
report states that the unit set off a flash-bang grenade after -- instead
of before -- some police officers entered the house, and other officers
shot at dogs in the house in the seconds after they entered to serve a
search warrant on Sept. 27.

The report concludes a five-month review requested by Preble County Sheriff
Tom Hayes after officers assigned to his office's emergency services unit
stormed Helriggle's house south of West Alexandria. The unit's officers,
who handle everything from water rescues to hostage situations, were
assigned to serve a search warrant in a drug investigation that a judge
approved that day.

Helriggle, who lived at 1282 Ohio 503 with four roommates, had been
sleeping upstairs. The raid turned deadly when Helriggle walked downstairs
after police set off a flash-bang grenade, yelled and fired their guns
three times at three dogs in the house.

Helriggle died shortly after being shot in the chest by Sgt. Kent Moore of
the Lewisburg Police Department. Relatives and friends said they believed
Helriggle did not have a gun and a roommate, Ian Albert, said he saw
Helriggle carrying only a blue plastic cup.

Police, however, said they found three blue plastic cups in the house and
none contained Helriggle's fingerprints or DNA evidence, according to the
Montgomery County sheriff's investigation report.

And police said they found a black, .9-millimeter Ruger handgun owned by
Helriggle on the stairs near his body, the report said. Blood found on the
pistol matched Helriggle's, according to the report prepared by Sgt. Ed
Copher and detectives Greg Laravie and Rick Ward.

"They absolutely left no stone unturned or rumor unchecked," Sheriff Dave
Vore said Wednesday about the review by his officers.

"We're very secure in what the investigators found."

Helriggle's mother, Sharon, said she and her husband, Michael, met with
Montgomery County investigators after the report was released Wednesday.

"They answered some of the questions we had about different things," she
said. "Whether or not Clay had a gun is rather moot, after reading the
investigation, because of everything else that went on in the house that
night."

She said police officers didn't knock before entering the farmhouse.

"Had they done that, Clayton would have still been alive," Sharon Helriggle
said.

Moore, who told other police officers he believed he had been struck by
gunfire, told investigators that he saw Helriggle with a handgun and that
he fired a single blast from his 12-gauge shotgun into Helriggle's chest.

Testimony taken from dozens of people The nearly 200-page report includes
testimony of dozens of people who were at Helriggle's house and Miami
Valley Regional Crime Laboratory forensics experts.

The report also states that "no evidence has been discovered that would
indicate anything at the scene was altered or tampered with" before
Montgomery County sheriff's investigators arrived about 90 minutes after
the shooting, Vore said.

The findings include statements from roommate Wesley Bradley, 25, who told
Montgomery County sheriff's Detective J.T. Kelly that he sold "about an
ounce" of marijuana a week, and called the residence, where Helriggle and
four others lived, "a constant party house, drinking, smoking weed, a lot
people in and out .Y.Y. partying almost every night."

Bradley told Kelly that "my buddy would still be alive" if Bradley hadn't
been dealing from the house.

The raid, at 6:47 p.m., was commanded by Preble County sheriff's Detective
George L. Petitt Jr.

In November, Pettit was accused of visiting an American Legion post during
working hours and being untruthful when filling out time cards, according
to Preble County records. He has since been disciplined and demoted to road
patrol after he was found guilty by an internal investigation.

He is on leave and has applied for a medical retirement, Preble County
Sheriff Thomas Hayes said last week.

Hayes also said last week that he has shut down his office's emergency
services unit to save money.

The Preble County sheriff also asked the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office
for an administrative review of the shooting and the conduct of police
officers during the drug raid.

Vore said that the review continues and he could not say when it might be
concluded. A Preble County grand jury last week declined to charge any of
the officers or Helriggle's roommates with any crimes.

Pre-raid meeting was called off The ill-fated raid at Helriggle's house
began earlier on Sept. 27 when Eaton Municipal Judge Paul Henry approved a
search warrant. The pre-raid staging, when officers planned to discuss and
rehearse their entry into Helriggle's house, was called off after sheriff's
deputies Jimmy Williams and Greg McWhinney believed they had been seen by
motorists who pulled into the farmhouse driveway. Those men were later
identified as Helriggle's roommates Ian Albert and Christopher Elmore.

Petitt, the commander of the emergency services unit, told investigators
that he remained 20 to 30 feet away from the house so he could watch two
teams of officers enter from the front and rear doors.

The front-entry team was supposed to ram through the front door so that
sheriff's Deputy Thomas Doran could throw a flash-bang grenade into the
living room. The explosion was intended to disorient the people inside and
signal the rear-entry team to batter through the back door.

However, the rear-entry team discovered the back door was unlocked, and
Deputy Kevin Caplinger walked in. According to the Montgomery County
sheriff's report, Caplinger yelled, "Sheriff's office. Search warrant,"
before entering a mudroom and then the kitchen.

Caplinger, carrying a riot shield, fired one or two rounds from his
40-caliber Glock handgun at two dogs, which ran past him and out the back door.

Caplinger said a flash-bang grenade went off in the living room shortly
after he fired at the dogs. He spotted roommate Ian Albert lying on his
side at the bottom of the back stairs. Roommates Wesley Bradley and his
girlfriend, Tasha Webster, were also on the floor.

Caplinger and Deputy Mike Spitler left the kitchen, but Detective Clay
VanWinkle remained there with Moore. VanWinkle said he heard a flash-bang
grenade explode, and believed a third dog in the room was going to bite
Moore. VanWinkle fired his 40-caliber handgun at the dog and missed.

Moore heard someone yelling and saw motion to his left. Helriggle was on
the stairs, awakened from a nap by the noise.

Moore said he saw Helriggle in the dark hallway that was filling with smoke
from the explosion of the flash-bang grenade. Moore said he saw Helriggle
carrying a black handgun in front of his waist. The officer, a firearms
instructor, shot once, hitting Helriggle in the chest.

When he realized Helriggle was no longer a threat, Moore told investigators
that he continued through the rest of the house behind Caplinger and Spitler.

"I then began yelling for a medic," he said, and handed his shotgun to
another officer and exited Helriggle's house through the front door.