Viewers demand WCPO sack weatherman Steve Raleigh over automotive lot assault
Ohio’s best-known weatherman has deleted his social media and vanished from the screens after he was filmed in a road rage incident that left an elderly couple bleeding and unconscious on the tarmac.
Veteran WCPO forecaster Steve Raleigh was with sons Kyle and Carter when their Cadillac Escalade plowed into a Ford F-150 after failing to yield to oncoming traffic.
Moments later the Ford driver, Douglas Morrow, 79, was on the ground next to his wife Lois, 76, who suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a detached retina.
The Cadillac is owned by the weatherman’s father-in-law, former Hamilton County sheriff and attorney Simon L Leis, Jr. And pressure is growing on Cincinnati Police to explain why there have been no arrests since the June 22 incident which also saw an intervention from Red Sox legend Kevin Youkilis.
‘These were locally famous people and in my opinion believe they are above the law,’ wrote the couple’s daughter Stacey Morrow-Stickrod who posted a video. ‘I 100 per cent believe one more hit would have killed her.’
Veteran WCPO forecaster Steve Raleigh has deleted his social media pages after footage of his involvement in a road rage incident surfaced
Lois Morrow, 76, was left unconscious with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a detached retina after an incident with Raleigh’s family in a Cincinnati car lot
Carter, 28, is thought to have been driving his grandfather’s car when it hit the Morrows’ car in the lot of Montgomery Inn Boathouse on Riverside Drive.
Stacey said the famous family became enraged when her father decided to call police because he smelled alcohol and suspected they had been drinking.
‘This set off the people causing my brother and both my parents to be attacked,’ she wrote.
‘My mom took the brunt of the injuries that night. She was in UC hospital for a few days and is still continuing to be treated.
‘She was knocked unconscious and had a concussion, fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, contusion on the back of her head that was stapled shut and the lens that was put in her eye was detached and needs replaced. She had lots of cuts and bruises to her arms and legs.
‘My dad also had a concussion and was knocked unconscious. I am not gonna say who was responsible until they are arrested and charged as I don’t want to hurt the case.
‘I just want all the witnesses to come forward and any videos that were made because there were lots of witnesses.’
Youkilis took to Facebook to deny rumors he had been with the Raleigh’s on the evening after he was recognized in the footage, insisting he simply chanced across the incident while in town to broadcast a Red Sox-Reds game.
The veteran weatherman was pictured in the video which pictured Lois and her 79-year-old husband Douglas unconscious and bleeding as their son attended to them
Raleigh was confronted in the video by Red Sox legend Kevin Youkilis who had been dining at the same restaurant before the car crash that sparked the incident
Youkilis admitted he ‘snapped a little bit after what I saw and used some colorful language’
Douglas and Lois were treated for their injuries at UC hospital, according to their daughter
A Gofundme appeal has been launched to help the couple who have been married for 50 years
‘Unfortunately, I was a little too late and saw a horrible chain of events unfold,’ he explained.
‘My intentions after what I witnessed was to help the two individuals on the ground and to protect anyone else from being harmed.
‘I snapped a little bit after what I saw and used some colorful language in the video.’
The grainy footage records a woman repeatedly calling ‘Stop!’ before Raleigh Snr is seen pushing someone away.
‘Someone call 911 please,’ the woman pleads as the camera pans across the prostrate 79-year-old clutching his head.
His unconscious wife comes into frame as a male voice is heard yelling: ‘That is f***ing ridiculous’.
A man thought to be Steve Raleigh is then seen over the floored pensioner before saying: ‘Kevin listen to me, f*** that, f*** that.’
Youkilis bends over Lois to check on her condition as another voice is heard yelling: ‘Dood are you serious he hit a f***ing woman. She’s pouring blood.’
‘You’re an embarrassment to that f***ing Red Sox brand,’ someone shouts.
‘Go back to Boston.’
In a Facebook update, Stacy thanked Youkilis for his intervention on behalf of her parents.
‘There were at least 50 people in the lot when this happened because it was at closing of the restaurant,’ she wrote. ‘Only one, Kevin Youkilis, saved my mom and stopped this attack.
‘He was definitely her guardian angel that night. I also believe he was there with them but was ready to fight for her!’
WCPO lists among its ‘core values’ ‘holding the powerful accountable, it doesn’t matter where it takes us’.
On July 12 WCPO vice president and general manager Jeff Brogan said the station was ‘aware of the incident involving Steve Raleigh’s family’.
‘It is still under investigation, and at this time no charges have been filed against anyone,’ he added in a statement.
‘Steve shared his side of the incident with our leadership. His account is consistent with the police report, which does not name him, and with what we have reviewed on video.
‘The video does not show the incident from start to finish. We will continue to monitor official findings.’
Raleigh, pictured with wife Julie Leis and sons Kyle, left, and Carter (right)
He was pictured arguing with Youkilis in the video, urging him to ‘f*** that’
Lois was pictured unconscious and bleeding from her head in the Montgomery Inn Boathouse car lot, but the restaurant has said that its security cameras were switched off at the time
But thousands of people left comments on the Facebook post slamming the station for its response with many calling for Raleigh to be fired.
‘I guess there are some amongst us who are above the law after all,’ wrote one. ‘I sure have a different view of Steve Raleigh now. I’m done with WCPO!’
‘Doesn’t matter if we didn’t see the whole video. What we saw was enough!!!’ added another. ‘It was one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen in a long time!!’
The Cincinnati Police Department report records that a ‘male named Carter pushed another parent’, and that they believe the assault suspect was under the influence of alcohol.
A manager at The Boathouse told CityBeat that the restaurant does not have security footage of the parking lot because a camera was not operating at the time.
Names of the two suspects and five victims were redacted on the incident report and no arrests have been made.
‘It was a traffic crash which turned into an assault, which turned into our officers being called,’ CPD Lt Jonathan Cunningham told the website.
‘At this point, our investigators are working through the case.’
