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Sheriff Jones breaks up Hamilton street fight

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By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer Updated 8:34 PM Saturday, January 2, 2010

HAMILTON — As the Butler County’s top cop, Sheriff Richard Jones spends much of his time worrying about budgets, procedures and politics these days.

Not today, Dec. 31. Jones was an honest to goodness crime fighter when he broke up a fight at about 3 p.m. in the middle of Main Street.

An apparent incident that started as road rage escalated into a fist fight near the intersection at Eaton Avenue.

Jones said he was driving through the city after a workout at the YMCA when he saw a man jump over the fence from the Walgreen’s drug store and into the street approaching a pickup truck stopped in traffic.

“I thought at first he was just waving at the guy in the pickup. But the door opened and the fight was on. They were fighting like hell right there in the street,” Jones said.

Dressed in civilian clothes, Jones whipped his unmarked car around, blocking traffic and the ruckus.

“I pulled them apart and identified myself as a law enforcement officer. That’s all it took,” Jones said.

One of the men recognized him as the sheriff, and pulled a photo of Jones out of his wallet that was a promotional card from years back.

According to deputies, Ricky Thompson, 41, was arrested for assault. Hamilton police took the suspect into custody.

“That’s how I ended the year,” Jones said, laughing noting that he’s still got “it.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.

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