By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• A Butler County, Ohio, sheriff’s deputy was stabbed in the back while responding to a vehicle fire in Madison Township on Thursday.
• The deputy, identified as Mike Farthing, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was hospitalized.
• The suspect, 41-year-old Phillip Brandon Lovely, was taken into custody at the scene.
• Lovely faces felony charges including attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault and arson.
• The stabbing occurred at about 12:45 p.m. on Myers Road near a home where a car fire was reported.
MADISON TOWNSHIP, OH — A Butler County Sheriff’s deputy was stabbed in the back Thursday while responding to a reported vehicle fire near a residence in Madison Township, officials said.
Deputy Mike Farthing was at the scene of a vehicle fire on the 7000 block of Myers Road at about 12:45 p.m. when a man approached from behind and stabbed him, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said.
Farthing was taken to Atrium Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries and subsequently released from the hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
The suspect, 41-year-old Phillip Brandon Lovely, was taken into custody at the scene. He is facing multiple felony charges including attempted aggravated murder of a law enforcement officer, felonious assault and arson.
Multiple agencies responded to the incident, and the investigation by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office remains active, officials said.