It has been a crazy couple of weeks in Butler County.  First, there was a bomb threat in West Chester. Additionally, we had a second SWAT Incident and a police pursuit that went through multiple counties. 

On January 30th, 2021 Travis Goad, 33, entered the West Chester Police Department and claimed he had placed a bomb in a white van that was located at the Astra Zeneca – – which is located off of Port Union.  Multiple police units with lights and sirens raced to the location. After further questioning, Goad changed his story and said the white van was located at the Walgreens located at the corner of State Route 747 at Union Centre Boulevard, which prompted several neighboring businesses to be evacuated. More units responded to this location and shut down the intersection of Union Centre and State Route 747 for several hours. When Butler County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad Unit responded with a robot deployed to check the suspected white van,  something suspicious.  After a man in a bomb suit came to check, it was found to be a phone cable. Travis Goad was later arrested and charged with inducing panic and making a false alarm. Goad was later booked and transported to the Butler County Jail in which he was later found dead in his cell from suicide. Since some of this is still under investigation, much can not be said.

Another incident that happened on Friday was a SWAT standoff that shut down Union Centre Boulevard for a couple of hours. A call came in around 5:30 am that a suicidal man was in a car with a possible handgun at the Beckett Springs Mental Health Facility. This is when officers responded to locate the subject. When the subject was found, officers tried to continually negotiate with the individual to step out of the car in which the suspect resisted doing so. Around 7:00 AM officers requested SWAT Officers for assistance. The suspect later surrendered to police and was promptly arrested without incident. The incident was over around 8:30 am.

Lastly, an additional incident that happened in Butler County was a pursuit that went into three counties, including Butler.  Robert Lee Bergman III, 26, was a passenger in the vehicle initially when officers were arresting the driver for OVI (Operating a Vehicle Impaired). While officers were arresting the driver, Bergman entered the driver’s seat and took off. Bergman headed down I-75 South going towards Liberty Township. Bergman entered onto SR 129 WB and continued until he made an immediate U-Turn heading the wrong way. To prevent Bergman from going the wrong way, a trooper used his vehicle to push Bergman’s vehicle into a ditch, Bergman’s vehicle was able to get out of the ditch and continue down SR 129 going eastbound towards I-75. Bergman later got onto I-75 heading going towards Middletown. Stops sticks were placed by SR 63 on I-75 in which Bergman avoided and continued down I-75. Once Bergman reached SR 122 (Middletown Exit) he attempted to take another U-turn to get back onto I-75 but was blocked by State Troopers.  Somehow, he managed to get back on I-75 NB until he exited onto SR 123 going WB.

 Bergman later went reverse through Franklin city streets, went through a bean field and later crashed into a telephone pole in which he bailed out and ran until the officers got him into custody. During this very intense and lengthy pursuit Bergman hit 6 Ohio State Highway Patrol vehicles and injured 2 to 3 troopers.  He was later transported to Atrium Medical Center located in Middletown to treat his minor injuries. Bergman will face several charges such as failure to comply, felonious assault, and possession of a controlled substance.