Golf Manor K-9 Officer Matthew Haverkamp, 29, was killed in a motor vehicle accident July 15, 2005 at 2:35 a.m. Officer Haverkamp was off duty driving his black 2001 Range Rover Discovery on I-75 south when he swerved out of his lane and collided with a white 2005 Lincoln Navigator between Galbraith and Paddock exits. Haverkamp’s SUV slammed into the guardrail and flipped over an embankment. Haverkamp was ejected from the SUV and found more than 100 feet away in a shallow drainage ditch and was pronounced dead at the scene. Hamilton County Coroner Dr. O’dell Owens said that Haverkamp died from a broken neck. The driver of the Lincoln Navigator had a fractured knee and injured back. Witnesses to the accident estimated Officer Haverkamp’s speed at least 80 mph. Investigators say Haverkamp was at fault in the wreck by failing to control his vehicle and was not wearing his seatbelt. Hamilton County Coroner, Dr. O’dell Owens, revealed that Haverkamp was under the influence of alcohol at the time and his blood alcohol content was .19 at the time of the crash. In Ohio, the legal driving limit is .08. Officer Haverkamp had been on the Golf Manor force eight years and had started the department’s K9 program and bike patrol. Haverkamp graduated with a degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. His canine’s was a Belgian Malinois named Tibo and was not with him at the time of the accident because Tibo was staying at a veterinarian’s office recuperating after breaking a leg while off duty about two weeks before the accident. The parents of Officer Matt Haverkamp, Bruce and Nancy Haverkamp, have established the Matt Haverkamp Foundation to raise money for police dogs to memorialize K-9 Officer Matt Haverkamp
Menu
