OHIO DEPUTY OUT OF HOSPITAL AFTER CRUISER HIT IN TRAFFIC STOP

A Butler County sheriff's deputy is out of the hospital after being knocked unconscious Sunday morning and flown by medical helicopter to a hospital after his cruiser was rear-ended during a traffic stop. Deputy Faron Addis was extricated from his cruiser after being injured while on a traffic stop on Reily-Millville Road.

Addis had pulled over Ken Duersken, of Oxford, about 9 a.m. on Reily-Millville near U.S. 27. He was completing a written warning when his cruiser was hit from behind by a 2007 Pontiac, according to the sheriff's office. The impact sent the cruiser into the back of Duersken's 2002 Kia van.

"I heard a screech of the brakes and I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the car," said Duersken, who was not harmed in the crash. Addis was extricated from his cruiser by crews from the Hanover Twp. Fire Department. He regained consciousness and was speaking lucidly before he was flown via Air Care to University Hospital, Duersken said.

"They got there in nothing flat after I called 911," Duersken said of the emergency responders. Addis was treated and released, hospital officials said Sunday night. The Pontiac's driver, Andrew J. Kochanowski, of Oxford, was taken to McCullough-Hyde Hospital for minor injuries, according to the sheriff's office.

The crash, which shut down traffic on the road for nearly three hours, occurred after the eastbound Pontiac crested at the top of the grade and began braking, according to preliminary reports from the sheriff's office.

Duersken said the slope of the hill wasn't severe and drivers could clearly see the flashing lights from down the road.

No charges have been filed and the crash remains under investigation.

Duersken said he plans to donate the cost of a traffic ticket to Fraternal Order of Police to assist Addis. "His family's probably going to need some help," Duersken said.