An assistant Ohio prosecutor has been canned for allegedly biting a man’s finger off in a fit of rage after the victim reportedly honked at him at a green light during a road rage incident last month, according to reports.
Former Greene County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Murray is accused of the horrendous assault in the early morning of June 30, according to an incident report obtained by Law&Crime.
The Riverside Police Department responded to multiple reports of a “fight in progress” at an overpass on US Route 35 — about 210 miles from Cleveland — and was “advised that one caller said there was a lot of blood and a finger was bitten off,” the arrest report obtained by the outlet states.
Law enforcement found a 43-year-old man standing outside his vehicle with “a lot of blood on him and the ground” when they arrived at the scene.
The unidentified man — later determined to be the victim — was evaluated by medical personnel at the scene, who confirmed part of his middle finger was “bitten off,” according to the report obtained by Law&Crime.
The victim’s finger was severed at the distal interphalangeal joint — the knuckle at the tip of a finger, just before the fingernail begins.
Police later discovered part of the man’s finger underneath his vehicle.
The victim claimed he was waiting at a red light when the car in front of him did not move once the light turned green.
The man said he then “laid on his horn” to alert the driver to move, according to Law&Crime.
The driver — identified by police as Murray — then got out of his vehicle, approached the victim’s car, and allegedly declared to the man he wanted to fight.
Murray allegedly then grabbed the victim’s driver-side door, “pulled it open and started to fight,” and they both “tussled to the ground,” Law&Crime reported.
During the melee, the victim claimed to police he allegedly got “on top of” Murray, and that’s when the former Ohio prosecutor “bit down on his finger.”
The victim told police that Murray then fled the scene.
However, before he could make his getaway, Murray dropped his phone, which police took into evidence, and was later used to identify Murray as the suspect, according to WDTN.
The victim was also transported to a hospital for further treatment after being evaluated at the scene, according to the incident report.
Murray is now facing charges of felonious assault, WDTN reported.
The Riverside Police Department said Murray’s case is pending before a grand jury, and he has not been arrested, Law&Crime reported.
In light of the alleged assault turned disfigurement, Murray had been fired from his position as a Greene County assistant prosecutor, Greene County Prosecuting Attorney David D. Hayes told Law&Crime.
Hayes told the outlet he did not hear about the incident until more than a week after it occurred.
“As Greene County Prosecuting Attorney, I became aware on July 8, 2024, of an ongoing criminal investigation in Montgomery County regarding my employee Christopher Murray,” Hayes told the outlet.
Hayes wrote that Murray was put on “leave since July 9, 2024” and has “not been in the office, or representing my office in Court” since.
“After due consideration, I terminated Christopher Murray’s employment with the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office,” Hayes shared.
