More than 1,500 honor deputy

Associated Press

MASON, Ohio

More than 1,500 people gathered Saturday to pay their respects to a southwest Ohio sheriff’s deputy who was killed while he tried to stop a fleeing suspect in a high-speed chase.

Hundreds of police officers from the region attended funeral services for Dulle, the Dayton Daily News reported. Their police cruisers were in the procession from the church in Mason to the Lebanon Cemetery, where the Army veteran was to be buried with military and police honors.

Warren County authorities say Sgt. Brian Dulle, 36, was killed Tuesday as he put out stop sticks to try to disable the vehicle.

In a statement to reporters outside the church, Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims said, “We’re hopeful that today when we lay our friend to rest, we’ll get some relief and be able to start moving forward.”

Marcus Anthony Isreal, 22, of Middletown has been indicted on a murder count on charges he struck and killed Dulle with a vehicle he was driving during the chase.

Authorities say Isreal ran from the crash about 35 miles northeast of Cincinnati and was arrested walking along a road.

A grand jury on Friday also indicted Isreal on one count each of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, receiving a stolen vehicle and failure to comply.

He is being held on $1 million bond.

The newspaper reports Dulle is the first Warren County deputy killed in the line of duty. He is survived by his wife, Abbie, and three children.

Ashley McClain of Turtlecreek Township brought her two daughters, age 2 and 7, to watch outside the cemetery.

“I wanted to show them the sacrifices law enforcement make and hopefully they can learn something from this experience,” McClain told the newspaper.

Hundreds of others paid tribute to the fallen deputy at a Friday night visitation, including U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio.