Ohio sheriff slams law enforcement agencies for releasing illegal immigrant who allegedly crashed into nurse
An Ohio sheriff has publicly condemned other law‑enforcement agencies for allowing a repeat offender—who is an “illegal immigrant” from Guatemala—to roam the roads a second time. The suspect, Johen Perez‑Ventura, 27, is now facing charges that include aggravated vehicular assault, driving without a license and obstruction of justice, Sheriff Richard Jones announced.
Jones said the accused had a severe criminal record. Perez‑Ventura first crossed the Texas border in 2019, was deported, then returned to the United States before being charged with assault in Cincinnati in 2023. That same year he was also arrested for driving under the influence in Westchester. After each arrest, the suspect was released.
The latest incident occurred on November 20 on Route 747 in Liberty Township when a nurse and volunteer cheer‑leading coach, Courtney Steinmetz, was reportedly hit head‑on by Perez‑Ventura. In the aftermath Steinmetz was hospitalized with a spine injury, a broken wrist and a broken ankle. Jones paid a visit to her in the hospital, noting the severity of her injuries and predicting a long recovery that would likely affect her career.
In an effort to cover the medical expenses and lost wages, a GoFundMe campaign was launched for Steinmetz. The fundraiser lists insurance deductibles and the fact that Perez‑Ventura does not have health insurance as reasons for the financial burden. A family member posted that, despite Steinmetz’s pain, she still “hopes the opposing driver is doing OK despite the pain this has caused.”
Sheriff Jones expressed frustration over the repeated releases. According to him, the other agencies may have been reluctant to send the suspect back to his county jail because he would have been deported instead. He claimed that while the suspect had a history of DUIs and assaults, he was not supposed to have been driving in the first place—especially since he allegedly did not hold a valid driver’s license and may have used counterfeit identification.
In a Facebook video, Jones ranted at the suspect and the system that let him go. “This low-life piece of s— named Johen, who has been arrested [four times] for DUIs … he had alcohol in the car, had to be cut out of the car, [went] to the hospital,” Jones said in a video post to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. “You know who pays for that. We do. … It’s not his first time. … He’s used to this. He was just going to be in the wind. … Not this time. We waited and then [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] made the apprehension.”
He added that the suspect might have been granted abilities to continue moving around because other agencies didn’t want to confront the reality of sending “him” to jail, where he could face deportation—or the possibility of being stuck in a much harsher situation at that point. He threatened that the suspect would experience a “taste of American prison” if the matter was pursued further, suggesting that the offender might serve a brief stint before possibly being deported again.
Beyond this case, Sheriff Jones reports that nearly half a dozen other undocumented residents with criminal charges ranging from sex offenses and assault to DUIs and drug-related counts have been apprehended recently in Butler County.
“I have no sympathy,” Jones stated bluntly. “If he had been deported and stayed deported the first time, we wouldn’t be going through this.”
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