Five men arrested after chase from Ashland to Columbus
Five Dayton-area men were booked into the Ashland County Jail on July 24 following a chase that began in Ashland and ended on I-270 in Columbus.
USA TODAY NETWORK
LANCASTER – From traffic accidents to road rage and more, Ohio Highway Patrol dispatcher Christopher Lortz deals with it all.
Lortz has been at the Lancaster post for 19 years. Before that, he worked in information technology (IT) for the patrol in Columbus.
Lortz was recently named the 2023 Ohio Public Safety Telecommunications Dispatcher of the Year for his work on November 14 in connection with a fatal bus and tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 70.
“Our main job is to be a lifeline for the officers,” Lortz said of the dispatchers. “We look out for them. We keep an eye on what’s happening to them out there on the street and make sure they’re OK. I always tell people that the main part of my job is to make sure the guys get home safe at the end of their shift.”
“And the phones are ringing off the hook. Three or four units are barking on the radio, needing this and that. You try to run around and do everything as best you can.”
How does Lortz deal with the stress?
“Well, that’s just what you do,” he said. “That’s just what you do. You just get to work and do your best and hope you’ve done enough. And then you just move on to the next mess.”
This chaos can sometimes be caused by people calling from the road and ready to throw a tantrum. But Lortz said not to get involved in a road rage incident.
“I’m told this guy did this and now I’m following him,” he said. “Don’t follow people. You don’t know anything about the person in the car. That person could have a loaded gun, that person could be a wanted criminal. You don’t know.”
Lortz said the first concern was to separate the two drivers before something bad happened.
“Just get out of the situation,” he said. “Don’t stay there and incite it further.”
Lortz said dispatchers are trained to leave work at work and home at home. But he said that’s not how it works.
“If something blows up at your house, bring that home with you,” Lortz said. “And the same goes for work. If you had a really bad day at work, a stressful day, or a really bad love day where someone unfortunately lost their life or something, bring that home with you.”
On the other hand, it’s rewarding when people call and thank dispatchers for something they did to help them, Lortz said.
“And maybe also restored some faith in humanity,” he said.
In his free time, Lortz enjoys playing video games, spending time with his wife, and gardening.
740-681-4340
Twitter/X: @JeffDBarron
