“He’s smashing our cars and he’s going to come through the house,” a woman inside the house told a 911 dispatcher.
Risgby then led deputies on a slow-speed chase for more than an hour, Kelly said, and crossed the center line near Ohio 72 to strike a deputy’s vehicle. The deputy suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from a local hospital, he said.
“This is a deadly weapon that he’s in charge of,” Kelly said. “And he’s in a violent rage, ramming these vehicles.”
Rigsby brought the semi to a stop on East Jackson and Mills roads, he said, and deputies negotiated with him.
“He stated that we was armed and that he wanted a confrontation,” Kelly said.
Rigsby eventually gave himself up peacefully, the sheriff said.
“I’m very thankful that we didn’t have anyone seriously injured.”
Deputies had been to the ex-girlfriend’s house recently, Kelly said, and she had tried to file a protection order against Rigsby.
The protection order was denied, he said, but it may have been what set Rigsby off.
“If somebody is as bent on retaliation as this individual seemed to be,” Kelly said. “That protection order was not going to stop him.”
Rigsby has been charged with several felonies, including breaking and entering, vandalism, menacing by stalking and assault, according to court documents. He appeared in court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Clark County Municipal Court Judge Thomas Trempe set his bond at $200,000.
His criminal history includes charges of domestic violence dating back to 1997, Kelly said.
“He was just a violent man who was bent on destruction of anyone that got in his way,” he said.
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