Sunday, February 27, 2000
Ex-sheriff's deputy accused in slaying
Sycamore Twp. man arrested in Silverton death
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Owen Hobbs
|
Four years ago, Owen Hobbs was a deputy for the Hamilton County sheriff. Today he sits in the sheriff's jail accused of murder.
Silverton police, with the help of Cincinnati homicide investigators, arrested Mr. Hobbs early Saturday morning at his home in Sycamore Township. The 52-year-old is accused of firing the gunshot that killed Rashawn Berry on Feb. 19 in Silverton.
Mr. Hobbs is expected to be arraigned Monday on a charge of murder. A motive for the shooting has not been determined, said Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen.
“It's unfortunate that you have one of the good guys go bad,” Mr. Allen said.
Mr. Hobbs was fired from the sheriff's department in 1996 after he was accused of stealing “bait money” used in an internal investigation, Mr. Allen said.
Mr. Hobbs pleaded guilty to one count of theft in office and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. What he has been doing since is unclear, Mr. Allen said.
Mr. Berry, 25, was shot outside an apartment building in Silverton. Police have said Mr. Berry was visiting a relative at the building in the 6900 block of Silverton Avenue when witnesses heard a confrontation and then gunshots.
The killing was Silverton's first homicide in about a decade, police said.
Mr. Hobbs eluded investigators for a week. But a photograph of a man wanted for questioning shown on TV news programs Friday night gave investigators their break.
A woman watching one of the programs noticed the resemblance of the man pictured to her husband's house guest, Mr. Allen said. Her husband is a sheriff's deputy. The guest was Mr. Hobbs.
When she mentioned the resemblance, and even showed a videotape she had made of the newscast, Mr. Hobbs denied he was the man in the photograph. He then fled, Mr. Allen said.
Investigators were notified. About 6 a.m., investigators and a local SWAT team surrounded Mr. Hobbs' home in the 10900 block of Brookgreen Court, Mr. Allen said. He was arrested without incident.
The photograph was taken from a surveillance camera at the Silverton post office. Investigators obtained the photograph after witnesses said they saw the suspect go into the post office after the shooting. Mr. Hobbs apparently knew a woman who worked there, Mr. Allen said.
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