Man charged with aggravated vehicular assault after allegedly striking woman with car

CLAY TOWNSHIP - A Georgetown man was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated vehicular assault after he allegedly struck a Middletown woman with a car, leaving her with serious head injuries. 

On Sunday, Jan. 9 at 1:03 a.m., the Highland County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from the 1100 block of Sicily Road in Clay Township requesting a life squad for an injured person. The Sardinia Life Squad was dispatched to the residence, along with law enforcement personnel.

According to the HCSO, upon arrival at the scene, EMS workers found a 28-year-old female suffering from a severe head injury, who may have been run over by a vehicle. HCSO detectives conducted further interviews with persons at the scene and recovered several items of evidence from the area around where the victim was located. A vehicle was also impounded from the scene and later processed by HCSO detectives and BCI crime scene technicians.

HCSO detectives determined that the victim, Brandy Noble, 28, of Middletown, was at a residence on Sicily Road when she left the residence on foot. Another individual at the residence, Walter Shultz, 36, of Georgetown, left the residence driving a 1994 Dodge and struck the victim in the driveway of the residence and then became stuck in a ditch. 

Noble was treated at the scene by EMS personnel. She was transported to Clermont Mercy Hospital and then flown by to University Hospital in Cincinnati with serious injuries. 

Shultz was detained at the scene by deputies and later arrested on charges of operating a vehicle under the influence. He was later tested for the presence of alcohol in his system with a result of .146 percent, according to the HCSO.

Detectives are continuing their investigation into this case and have submitted several items of evidentiary value to BCI for further forensic examination, according to the HCSO.

Shultz was charged with aggravated vehicular assault and appeared in Hillsboro Municipal Court on Monday where bond was set at $50,000, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20.  The case will be presented to the Highland County Prosecutor's Office for possible presentation to an upcoming grand jury in Highland County Common Pleas Court, where additional charges are possible.