Inset: Phillip Lovely (Butler County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The area near where Lovely set a car on fire in Butler County, Ohio (Google Maps).
A man from Ohio has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term after a violent assault on a deputy who was responding to a fire the man had ignited earlier this year. The case has drawn attention due to the severity of the attack and the nature of the crime.
In April, 42-year-old Phillip Lovely admitted his guilt in court, entering a plea for one count each of attempted aggravated murder and arson. These charges stem from his attack on Deputy Mike Farthing, as confirmed by Butler County court records reviewed by Law&Crime. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors decided to dismiss additional charges, including two counts each of felonious assault and inducing panic.
This Wednesday, Judge J. Gregory Howard of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas delivered the sentence, which ranges from eight to twelve years in prison. Lovely received credit for the 119 days he had already spent in detention prior to the trial.
The incident took place in February outside a residence on Myers Road in Madison Township, a small community located about 40 miles north of Cincinnati. On February 5, just before 1 p.m., Deputy Farthing was the sole law enforcement officer available when a report came in regarding a vehicle fire. As the first responder on the scene, Farthing encountered Lovely, who was responsible for starting the fire.
Upon Farthing’s arrival, the vehicle was engulfed in flames, as reported by Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones to Fox affiliate WXIX, based in Newport, Kentucky, which covers the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The startling scene quickly escalated when Lovely attacked the deputy, leading to the charges and subsequent conviction.
As the deputy arrived, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones told Newport, Kentucky-based Fox affiliate WXIX — which serves the Cincinnati metro area — at the time.
The deputy called the fire in. But Lovely was none too pleased at the interruption and quickly stabbed him with what the sheriff described as a butcher knife with an eight-to-10-inch-long blade.
“This is your unlucky day,” the defendant said as he plunged the knife through the deputy’s vest and into his back.
Farthing and Lovely got into a fight, and the two men ended up on the ground. Eventually, the deputy fended off his attacker and was able to radio back to dispatch that he had been stabbed.
Finally, after throwing the defendant into a ditch, Farthing took out his own weapon and held the defendant at gunpoint. Lovely still had his weapon in his hand, but his uncle had come across the fracas and convinced his nephew to drop the knife.
Medical responders rushed the deputy to nearby Atrium Hospital, where staff members were waiting at the door, the sheriff said.
“I went to the hospital to check on my deputy, and I’m very thankful—as we all are—that we are dealing with non-life-threatening injuries,” Jones told the TV station at the time. “Our deputies face life-or-death situations every single day, often without warning. This incident is a reminder of the dangers law enforcement officers encounter.”
In April, Farthing spoke to the TV station on his own and said the knife wound was to his muscle tissue — which meant he had healed and was able to get back on the job in a matter of weeks.
“When I turned around and saw the knife in his hand, I knew I had to get him under control, or else he was going to kill me,” the deputy said. “Another [car] pulled up behind the squad [car], stopped, and the driver got out and was approaching me…as I was trying to figure out what he was doing, that’s when Mr. Lovely came up and shoved a knife in my back.”
Farthing credited his vest with saving his life. He said the knife missed a vital artery that could have proved fatal.
“Most people don’t realize a vest won’t stop a knife or an ice pick,” the sheriff said. “A pencil will go through a vest.”
As for the fire itself, the defendant started the blaze — lighting up his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle in retaliation for a breakup.
Upon his release from prison, Lovely will have to register as an arson and violent offender, court records show.
