Six months after deadly hit-and-run involving NKY man, police haven't completed a report

IMPEACHMENT. IN OTHER NEWS, IN. NORTHERN KENTUCKY, MAN HIT AND KILLED ON A CAMPING TRIP AND THE DRIVER TAKES OFF. POLICE STOPPED A POTENTIAL SUSPECT, BUT SIX MONTHS LATER, THE INVESTIGATION IS STILL ONGOING. AND TONIGHT WE HEAR FROM THE VICTIM’S EMOTIONAL FAMILY AND A LOCAL PROSECUTOR WHO’S BEEN VERY CRITICAL ABOUT HOW THE CASE IS BEING HANDLED. WLWT NEWS FIVE’S JATARA MCGEE JOINING US WITH THIS STORY. JATYRA. WELL, ASHLEY, MIKE, THE JUSTICE SYSTEM ISN’T EXACTLY KNOWN FOR MOVING QUICKLY, BUT THIS CASE IS MOVING SLOWER THAN USUAL. THE FAMILY IS UNDERSTANDABLY FRUSTRATED, AND WHAT YOU DON’T OFTEN SEE YOU’RE SEEING HERE A PROSECUTOR SAYING HE’S ALSO NOT HAPPY WITH HOW POLICE ARE HANDLING THE INVESTIGATION. HE DID NOT KNOW A STRANGER, AND IF YOU WERE SOMEONE HE JUST MET BY THE END OF THE CONVERSATION, YOU KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM. IT’S BEEN SIX MONTHS SINCE STEPHANIE JONES HAS HAD TO TALK ABOUT HER OLDER BROTHER, JAMES LINDELL. IN THE PAST TENSE, HIS KINDNESS. SORRY. THE 37 YEAR OLD FATHER OF TWO DIED DURING A CAMPING TRIP IN MASON COUNTY. HE WAS SO LOVING AND I DON’T THINK THAT HE DESERVED THIS BY ANY MEANS. JAMES WAS A PEDESTRIAN. THE DRIVER WHO HIT HIM DIDN’T STOP. IT’S THE DISREGARD FOR MY BROTHER’S LIFE. MASON COUNTY DEPUTIES STOPPED A PICKUP WITH SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE FRONT BUMPER AND DEPLOYED AIRBAGS. DEPUTIES SAY THE DRIVER, JUSTIN SCOTT, APPEARED TO BE OFF BALANCE AND SMELLED LIKE ALCOHOL. BUT SIX MONTHS LATER, THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE INVESTIGATION ISN’T COMPLETE. IF I WAS THE VICTIM’S FAMILY IN THIS CASE, I WOULD BE IRATE. IT’S NOT JUST THAT WE DON’T HAVE AN INDICTMENT. THIS IS WE DON’T HAVE A POLICE REPORT, WHICH IS UNHEARD OF IN THIS JURISDICTION. KENTON COUNTY COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY ROB SANDERS WAS APPOINTED AS A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR. LACKS A WAY. THEY’VE GONE ABOUT INVESTIGATING THIS CASE. IS IS QUITE DISTURBING. SANDERS SAYS HE’S STILL WAITING ON KENTUCKY STATE POLICE TO INTERVIEW WITNESSES. THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO REASON ON EARTH THAT IT SHOULD TAKE SIX MONTHS TO GET AN INVESTIGATION LIKE THIS DONE. IT’S A LOT OF RAGE AND REALLY JUST HEARTBREAK THAT THAT NOTHING’S BEEN DONE. STEPHANIE SAYS HER BROTHER’S TEN AND 18 YEAR OLD DAUGHTERS WERE HIS WORLD, AND HE’S DEEPLY MISSED ALL WHILE THE MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY TOOK HIS LIFE WALKS FREE. WE’RE KNOWING THAT HE’S SPENDING THANKSGIVING. HE’S SPENDING CHRISTMAS WITH HIS FAMILY. WHEN MY NIECES DON’T HAVE THAT, THEY’RE SPENDING THEIR FIRST THANKSGIVING, THEIR FIRST CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THEIR DAD OF COURSE. I REACHED OUT TO KENTUCKY STATE POLICE TO FIND OUT WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG. I DIDN’T GET A CALL BACK TODAY, BUT WHEN WE DO, WE’LL LET YOU KNOW. AND IF WE DON’T, WE’LL KEEP ASKI

The family of a hit-and-run victim says the investigation is taking far too long. The prosecuting attorney agrees. James Lindle, 37, graduated from Ludlow High School and was living in northern Kentucky with his sister. In June, he went on a camping trip to Mason County, Kentucky. On June 5, around 11:30 p.m., Lindle was hit by a vehicle and killed. The driver of the vehicle left the scene of the crash.Lindle's family was devastated by the news. The pain did not get any easier over the last six months. In fact, there is a new and growing frustration. The police investigation launched the night of the crash is still not complete. "It's a lot of rage and really just heartbreak that nothing's been done," said Stephanie Jones, Lindle's younger sister. "We're nowhere than where we were the day that this happened. There's no indictment, there's no trial date, I mean nothing."Mason County deputies stopped a pickup truck with "severe damage to the front bumper" and airbags that had been deployed. Deputies stopped the vehicle due to the damage and because it fit a description a 911 caller provided. Deputies said in a citation that Justin Scott, 41, "appeared to be off balance," smelled like alcohol and admitted he'd been drinking at a nearby bar. Six months later, the Kentucky State Police investigation into the crash is not complete.WLWT reached out to Kentucky State Police, asking about the delay in the investigation. KSP has not yet responded as of Wednesday night.Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders was appointed as a special prosecutor due to the other prosecutor having a conflict of interest. Sanders said the commonwealth's attorney presiding over the area where the crash occurred is a potential witness, because he communicated with Scott the night of the crash."It's not just that we don't have an indictment. We don't have a police report, which is unheard of in this jurisdiction," Sanders told WLWT. "If I was the victim's family in this case, I would be irate."Sanders said as of three weeks ago, state police had not interviewed a single witness from the June crash. "The lackadaisical way they've gone about investigating this case is quite disturbing," Sanders said. "Time does not help an investigation, and there's absolutely no reason on earth that it should take six months to get an investigation like this done. I know that the victim's family wants this case presented to the grand jury as soon as possible. But right now, I don't have anything to present to a grand jury."Jones said her brother's 10-year-old and 18-year-old daughters were his world. The girls are having a tough time processing their father's death and the circumstances surrounding the delayed prosecution. The family is also frustrated that the suspect has been out of jail wearing an ankle monitor while all parties are waiting for a grand jury to hear the case. "We're knowing he's spending Thanksgiving, he's spending Christmas with his family when my nieces don't have that. They're spending their first Thanksgiving, their first Christmas without their dad," Jones said. "He did not know a stranger, and if you were someone he just met, by the end of the conversation, you knew everything about him."She wants people to remember her brother's kindness, love for his daughters and goofy personality. In his honor, the family is in the process of setting up a scholarship fund at Ludlow High School to support a student involved in the Students Against Destructive Decisions group.

MASON COUNTY, Ky. —

The family of a hit-and-run victim says the investigation is taking far too long. The prosecuting attorney agrees.

James Lindle, 37, graduated from Ludlow High School and was living in northern Kentucky with his sister. In June, he went on a camping trip to Mason County, Kentucky.

On June 5, around 11:30 p.m., Lindle was hit by a vehicle and killed. The driver of the vehicle left the scene of the crash.

Lindle's family was devastated by the news. The pain did not get any easier over the last six months. In fact, there is a new and growing frustration. The police investigation launched the night of the crash is still not complete.

"It's a lot of rage and really just heartbreak that nothing's been done," said Stephanie Jones, Lindle's younger sister. "We're nowhere than where we were the day that this happened. There's no indictment, there's no trial date, I mean nothing."

Mason County deputies stopped a pickup truck with "severe damage to the front bumper" and airbags that had been deployed. Deputies stopped the vehicle due to the damage and because it fit a description a 911 caller provided.

Deputies said in a citation that Justin Scott, 41, "appeared to be off balance," smelled like alcohol and admitted he'd been drinking at a nearby bar.

Six months later, the Kentucky State Police investigation into the crash is not complete.

WLWT reached out to Kentucky State Police, asking about the delay in the investigation. KSP has not yet responded as of Wednesday night.

Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders was appointed as a special prosecutor due to the other prosecutor having a conflict of interest. Sanders said the commonwealth's attorney presiding over the area where the crash occurred is a potential witness, because he communicated with Scott the night of the crash.

"It's not just that we don't have an indictment. We don't have a police report, which is unheard of in this jurisdiction," Sanders told WLWT. "If I was the victim's family in this case, I would be irate."

Sanders said as of three weeks ago, state police had not interviewed a single witness from the June crash.

"The lackadaisical way they've gone about investigating this case is quite disturbing," Sanders said. "Time does not help an investigation, and there's absolutely no reason on earth that it should take six months to get an investigation like this done. I know that the victim's family wants this case presented to the grand jury as soon as possible. But right now, I don't have anything to present to a grand jury."

Jones said her brother's 10-year-old and 18-year-old daughters were his world. The girls are having a tough time processing their father's death and the circumstances surrounding the delayed prosecution. The family is also frustrated that the suspect has been out of jail wearing an ankle monitor while all parties are waiting for a grand jury to hear the case.

"We're knowing he's spending Thanksgiving, he's spending Christmas with his family when my nieces don't have that. They're spending their first Thanksgiving, their first Christmas without their dad," Jones said. "He did not know a stranger, and if you were someone he just met, by the end of the conversation, you knew everything about him."

She wants people to remember her brother's kindness, love for his daughters and goofy personality.

In his honor, the family is in the process of setting up a scholarship fund at Ludlow High School to support a student involved in the Students Against Destructive Decisions group.

Six months after deadly hit-and-run involving NKY man, police haven't completed a report

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