| On Jan 12, 1998 a Centerville police officer and a Washington Twp firefighter were struck by a car and killed as they investigated a traffic accident on an icy stretch of I-675. Killed were: John P. Kalaman, 29, a five-year veteran of the Centerville police department. Robert J. O'Toole, 26, a Washington Township firefighter for four years. Another firefighter, Charles D. Arnold, 29, was seriously injured. Circumstances of the accident: At about 6:30 a.m. a car driven by Stewart D. Havens, 35, Fairborn, slid off the highway into the median. Kalaman, O'Toole and Arnold had responded to that accident and were standing in the median when another car, driven by Bernadette Barton, 25, Beavercreek, also slid into the median, striking the first car. The three men were struck in that collision. Within minutes of that crash a third vehicle collided with a fire truck, but did not enter the median. The accident marked the first time a Centerville police officer was killed in the line of duty, and the first time in 42 years that a Washington Twp firefighter was killed on the job. |
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 A mass of fire equipment fills Far Hills Avenue as the procession for Robert O'Toole begins. DDN photo by Wally Nelson | Funeral servicesKalaman and O'Toole were buried on Jan. 17, following separate funeral services which virtually shut down the city of Centerville. Schools, businesses and major thoroughfares were closed and an estimated 2,000 people attended each of the funerals at the Church of the Incarnation. |
 DDN photo by Bill Reinke | Left: Police officers from Wright State University and the city of Centerville comfort one another Friday during services for Centerville Officer John Kalaman at David's Cemetery. The two were among hundreds of officers who traveled to Centerville to pay their respects to a collegue killed in the line of duty. Below: The casket of Washington Twp. firefighter Robert O'Toole is carried from Incarnation Church after Friday's funeral Mass. Bottom: Dayton police officers stand at attention and salute as the casket of Officer John Kalaman is carried into Incarnation Church.  WALLY NELSON / DAYTON DAILY NEWS  SKIP PETERSON / DAYTON DAILY NEWS |
| Beavercreek resident Bernadette Barton, who was driving the Camaro involved in the accident, appeared at a press conference at her attorney's office on Jan. 20, to read a statement about the accident. Accompanied by her husband, Ken, and attorney John Rion, Barton read softly and slowly, until the quaver inher voice overpowered her. "There was nothing I could do to prepare for or prevent this accident," said Barton, 25. "I amdeeply saddened by the injuries and loss of life that occurred on the road that morning." She broke down at that point, and Rion read the final two sentences of her statement. |  Bernadette Barton is comforted by her husband, Ken, as she reads a statement about the accident. JAN UNDERWOOD - DAYTON DAILY NEWS |
HIGHWAY TRAGEDY KILLS 2
Early morning I-675 accident leaves a third in critical condition
Published: Tuesday, January 13, 1998 Page: 1A
By: By Lou Grieco and Janice Morse DAYTON DAILY NEWSA FAREWELL TO 2 HEROES
Published: Saturday, January 17, 1998 Page: 1A
By: By Lou Grieco and Tom BeyerleinDAYTON DAILY NEWSFATAL I-675 ACCIDENT
DRIVER: ICE TO BLAME
* Nothing she could have done would have prevented the accident,she says.
Published: Wednesday, January 21, 1998 Page: 1A
By: By Lou Grieco Dayton Daily NewsGOING HOME IN STYLE
PEERS ESCORT FIREFIGHTER HURT IN I-675CRASH
Published: Sunday, March 15, 1998 Page: 1B
By John Keilman DAYTON DAILY NEWS
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