Badge:  54
Age:  25
Served 15 Months
September 9, 1996 to January 4, 1998

On January 4, 1988, at 2 a.m., Kenton County Police Officer Brian Kane pulled over a Volvo on W. 4th Street for suspicion of driving while intoxicated and running a red light.  During the initial investigation, the officer found the driver, Shawnta Robertson (20) of Cincinnati, to be intoxicated and in possession of marijuana.  Robertson suddenly took off running down 4th Street and across the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.  Officer Kane broadcast that he was in pursuit and Officer Partin drove to and over the bridge to a point ahead of the pursuit.  By this time, Officer Kane had caught up to his prisoner and was struggling with him when Officer Partin vaulted over the concrete divider between the roadway and walkway portions of the bridge; apparently unaware that there was a three foot gap between them.  He fell to his death in the frigid water of the Ohio River.  Officer Kane subdued Robertson and charged him with the red light violation, driving under the influence, and resisting arrest.  He was released on bond the next day.

For the rest of January and into February, law enforcement, divers, Coast Guard, helicopters, boats, underwater cameras and sonar, etc. were used to search for Officer Partin in a search area that expanded to as much as fourteen miles over time.  Finally, the search was called off in the hopes the spring would bring thermal changes to the river and his body would be recovered.  During this time, Covington Police Officers sponsored several fund raisers to help defray Officer Partin’s family’s expenses because his wife could not receive survivor’s benefits until his body was recovered.  By April 1998, hope increased daily that, with the river at 55 degrees, his body would rise.  Finally, on May 18, 1998, one week after he was honored in Police Memorial Day ceremonies, Officer Partin’s body was recovered near a boat on the Ohio side of the river, 1½ miles west of Anderson Ferry Road and 9½ miles from where he had entered the river. 

Officer Partin was survived by Lisa, his wife of eight months, and stepdaughter Sara Smith (11). He was also survived by his parents, Dave and Ruth Evers of Cincinnati and Louis and Karen Partin of Anderson Township; a sister, Angela of Lebanon; and two brothers, Brandon of Anderson Township and Joey of Union Township, Clermont County.   He was laid out at Allison & Rose Funeral Home, Taylor Mill on May 21, 1998 and funeral services were held at St. Timothy Episcopal Church in Anderson Township, where he and his wife were married in April 1997.  He was then buried in Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.

On January 19, 1998, Covington Police Chief Al Bosse announced the he was retiring Officer Partin’s Badge No. 54 and issuing him the city’s Legion of Honor medal.  Lisa later unveiled a new street sign for “Michael Partin Court” behind the Covington Police Headquarters.

After being released on bond, Shawnta Robertson turned himself in on a probation violation warrant issued in Hamilton County and was jailed there until after the funeral.  He was then extradited to Kenton County to answer charges which by then included Manslaughter.  On September 18, 1998, a jury found Shawnta Robertson guilty of 2nd Degree Manslaughter and recommended six years in prison and he was thus sentenced.  During July 2002, 2½ years later, even while Robertson was appealing the conviction and denying his fault in the incident, the Kentucky Parole Board granted him parole, “Because he showed remorse.”  He is believed to be living in Forest Park.

Anyone with additional informaiton with regard to family, artifacts, or photographs of this officer, are asked to contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.