HANCOCK COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - One of the passengers in the vehicle that struck and killed a Bluffton Police officer Dominic Francis is reviewing a proposed plea deal. 22-year-old Zachary Love was offered the deal, for guilty pleas for tampering with evidence and weapons under disability, both felonies of the third degree. While 2 counts of receiving stolen property and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle will be dropped. He has until Tuesday to make the decision, or they will proceed to trial at the end of the month. One of the other persons in the car facing charges, Dante Tate, took a plea deal and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Love and Tate were in the vehicle on March 31, 2022, with the alleged driver, Emin Johnson, that was part of the chase down I-75 where officer Francis was struck and killed while deploying stop sticks to disable the vehicle they had stolen. Johnson has his trial set for April.
