Cop who drove over, killed woman faces no felonies

CINCINNATI — A prosecutor said Thursday that a police officer won't face felony charges for driving his cruiser over a woman in a park, fatally injuring her.

Review of the State Highway Patrol investigation into the July 27 accident shows no "reckless" conduct that would support felony charges against Officer Marty Polk, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said at a news conference.

Deters said it would be up to the city to determine whether any negligent conduct was involved.

"Frankly it's not my call, but I don't believe it was negligent either," Deters said.

A decision on that cannot be made until the city receives and reviews the report, city prosecutor Ernest McAdams Jr. said.

Polk had driven his vehicle off the paved roadway when he ran over JoAnn Burton, but Deters said that it is often necessary for officers to drive on the grass to fully check the park. Witnesses said it was impossible to see Burton as she was sleeping under a blanket that day, the prosecutor said.

Burton, 48, was taken to a hospital, where she died. The Hamilton County coroner ruled her death from blunt force trauma as accidental.

Polk was not on a cell phone, and tests for possible alcohol or drug use were negative, Deters said.

Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, said in a statement that Burton was dead because a police officer "recklessly" drove through the grass. Spring said the coalition believes the same act conducted by any other citizen would have been deemed reckless.

"It is abhorrent that a police officer can drive through the grass in a park, run over the organs of another human, kill them and receive no felony charge," Spring said.

Deters said a "police officer on patrol is different from a citizen."

A message was left for Polk's attorney.