HCSO Sergeant Steve Alexander honored as Highland County Prosecutor's Officer of the Quarter

Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins honored Highland County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Steve Alexander as the Officer of the Quarter in a surprise ceremony Tuesday morning.

Collins issued a subpoena for Alexander to testify before the grand jury in their monthly session — much to his confusion, since he said he wasn’t investigating the case in question — before explaining the reason for asking him to come to the Highland County Common Pleas Courtroom June 6.

Alexander was recognized for his bravery when he responded to a reported domestic violence incident in February.

“You do great work, and we appreciate your work on all cases, but this case in particular,” Collins said. “I have told everybody that listening to the 911 call in that case — Adam [King, assistant prosecutor] and I have listened to it, and even though we knew how it ended, we were literally on the edge of our seat going ‘Stevie, please hurry.’”

According to a bill of particulars filed with the case, an open line 911 call was made where the victim could be heard screaming, while the suspect was heard making threats. Alexander was the first one on the scene and found the victim crying and covered in blood.

Alexander called for a squad for the victim and managed to arrest the suspect without incident before continuing to investigate the scene. The offender was later sentenced to nine years in prison for felonious assault and abduction, as the victim suffered multiple serious injuries.

“I have been told by every law enforcement officer in the last 17-plus years, the scariest thing that you walk into is a domestic violence case,” Collins said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. A lot of shootings occur because of domestic violence.

“You walked in there, and you saved [the victim’s] life. There is no question that you saved her life. You went in there by yourself, in the dark, with a man that we all know is dangerous. Thank you so much.”

Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera, who attended the ceremony, added that Alexander has just been promoted to sergeant this week.

Alexander received multiple rounds of applause from members of the grand jury as well as representatives from the Prosecutor’s Office, who were also on hand for the ceremony.

Along with his award, Highland County Victim Witness Director Heather Collins said that Alexander received a free pizza courtesy of Terry’s Pizza and a $50 gift card courtesy of Holtfield Station. She thanked those businesses for their generous donations, as did Alexander.

Donations from any business who would like to help reward the winning officers are being accepted. Any interested county businesses can call (937) 393-1851, and staff members will schedule an appointment to pick up the donation.

Since implementing the Officer of the Quarter program in October 2020, the Prosecutor’s Office has honored law enforcement officers from several different agencies, including: Greenfield Police Officer Jay Beatty; Highland County Sheriff’s Deputy Devan Goen; joint recipients Vincent Antinore and Erica Engle, both HCSO detectives; Highland County Common Pleas Court Chief Bailiff Ben Reno; Greenfield Police Lieutenant Brian McNeil; Hillsboro Police Officer Dan Hopkins; Hillsboro Police Officer Brian Butler; HCSO Deputy Robert Davis; and Greenfield Police Officer Mark Hamilton