An Ohio father who fatally struck a deputy with his car after his son was shot and killed by police was denied bond during a chaotic hearing on Tuesday.
A judge ordered Rodney L. Hinton to be remanded with no bond in connection with the death of Hamilton County Special Deputy Larry Henderson. Hinton, who is charged with aggravated murder, pleaded not guilty.
Before he entered a plea, a commotion erupted in the courtroom's gallery when Hinton's brother started yelling, "That's my brother, that's my brother." More than 50 police officers and at least three dozen family members and protesters were seated in the gallery.
Deputies immediately escorted Hinton out of the room.
"Everybody, be calm. We’re going to get through this," Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Tyrone Yates said as Hinton was led back inside the room.
Authorities accused Hinton of intentionally hitting Henderson on Friday afternoon as he was directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati during graduation. The deputy was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Officials said Henderson retired about five months ago and worked as a special deputy that day. Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said Henderson was "so well-liked and so well-known."
"We are so deeply saddened," McGuffey said at a Friday news conference.
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge told reporters on Friday that there was a definite connection between the collision and Thursday's fatal police shooting of Hinton's 18-year-old son, Ryan Hinton.
Ryan Hinton was killed by a Cincinnati police officer who responded to a report of a stolen vehicle at an apartment complex, authorities said. Theetge said that four people in the alleged stolen car ran, some in different directions, after police approached them. Two officers pursued the teen and another person, authorities said.
Theetge said the teen was armed.
Carl Beebe, a Cincinnati police officer, said at the Tuesday bond hearing that Rodney Hinton had viewed body camera footage of the shooting shortly before the collision. Video released by police showed an officer exit his vehicle and point his gun at the teen, who appeared to be running away.
The officer fired at least four times, Theetge said Friday. She said she believes the 18-year-old was hit by two bullets, one in the chest and one in the arm. In another video, an officer could be heard yelling, "He’s got a gun!" The entire incident lasted only 6 seconds, she said at a news conference.
Authorities said the gun was recovered at the scene. Theetge on Friday defended the officer’s actions, saying that they often have to make "split-second decisions to protect others and themselves when faced with immediate threats." Theetge said that the officer who shot the teen had said Ryan Hinton pointed the gun at him.
"Let me be very direct: We cannot allow individuals to flee from officers with a loaded firearm aimed at them," Theetge said. "When this happens, the outcome is almost always tragic. No one wins, and everyone involved is affected."
The officer who shot Ryan Hinton has not been named.
Family members said the older Hinton was "upset" and "agitated" after viewing the video, and they had concerns about him driving, Officer Beebe said during the Tuesday bond hearing.
Because of their concerns, relatives drove Hinton from the station, but he later returned to pick up his vehicle from the parking lot, Beebe said.
"He actually left the parking lot, followed by some family members and another car, and then a few minutes later returned to the parking lot ... drove through the parking lot and left the parking lot again," he said.
From there, Hinton drove toward the university and appeared to stop before he allegedly "accelerated quickly ... through the intersection where deputy Henderson was standing," Beebe said. The vehicle struck the deputy and a utility pole, according to Beebe, who said there was no indication that Hinton tried to stop.
Henderson was "launched several feet through the air," the officer said.
"He came to rest in a turn lane several feet from where the collision occurred," Beebe said.
The older Hinton appeared to fidget during the bond hearing. His attorney, Clyde Bennett, rubbed Hinton's shoulders and whispered to him to "calm down."
In its argument for no bond, the state said Hinton was a "giant mental health question mark" and a danger to law enforcement and the public, and cited past run-ins with the law, including a domestic violence incident and assault convictions.
Bennett said at the hearing he wanted to make sure that his client was "treated as a mentally ill person and not as a cop killer."
"I don't think he was a cop killer, I think he was not in his right mind and I think he should be treated like any other mentally ill person that commits a crime," he said.
Theresa Larkin, Ryan Hinton's aunt, said she knew something was different about Rodney Hinton that Friday morning.
"I’ve known Rodney since I was 15 years old. That wasn’t the Rodney that I knew. It was like his soul wasn’t even in his body," she told NBC News after the bond hearing.
"And I can only imagine what he felt when he saw that video," she said emotionally. "Because when I finally seen it, and I watched that video from the beginning to the end and watched my nephew drop, it was like my soul left my body. So I can only imagine how his father felt."
Larkin said she was at the hearing to support Rodney and to ensure "my nephew’s name don’t get swept underneath the rug because of this."
"Because we’re gonna get justice for Ryan, because what they did to him was not right," she said.
