A small-town restaurant that survived COVID-19 is fighting to stay open after being hit with something that has been even more devastating – a case of fraud.

“I'm angry because I've always wondered how people can let people take advantage of them and then I fell for that,” said Diane Korner.

Korner is the owner of Korner Kountry Kitchen in Brookville, Indiana. She said a case of fraud cost them more than $100,000.

“I’m hurt that somebody would do this to us and make us struggle,” Korner said.

The restaurant was having trouble making payroll for the 25 employees and was a matter of hours from closing when things took an unusual turn.

The community came together to raise about $10,000. It’s not enough to bail the restaurant out, but it has kept its doors open.

“It's amazing,” said Kountry Kitchen general manager Amanda Merritt. “We've had phone calls, messages, there was a GoFundMe. They've helped with their donating.”

The money came from individuals around town who don’t want the restaurant to close.

“We come two to three times a week,” said James Wagner, who drives about 10 miles to get to the restaurant.

Wagner said it’s not just the food, but the small-town flavor of the business that keeps him coming back. Before his wife died, he would bring her to the restaurant. He said one day he was cutting up a salad to make the pieces smaller for his wife.

“So, Diane came over and said, ‘What are you doing?’” Wagner said he explained the situation. “From then on, she told the girls, anytime my wife ordered a salad, you make sure you got to cut it up real fine. She took care of my wife.”

Those kinds of details are not overlooked in a small town.

Korner said she is unable to talk about the details of the fraud case, but that local, state and federal authorities are looking into the crime.

A Brookville man was arrested after leading law enforcement on a chase through three counties early Thursday morning, the Journal-News reports.

Robert Lee Bergman III, 28, was transported to Atrium Medical Center for minor injuries. It was determined that Bergman was impaired and in possession of illegal drugs, said Lt. Clint Arnold, Hamilton Post commander for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Bergman is charged with failure to comply with an order or signal of police, possession of a controlled substance, felonious assault and a holder for Montgomery County, according to the Butler County Jail log.

Numerous Ohio Highway Patrol cruisers were damaged, according to Lt. Clint Arnold, Hamilton Post commander.

At about 1 a.m., troopers received a report of a 1997 Cadillac that fled from a Miami Twp. Police department traffic stop near Miamisburg.

A male passenger moved into the driver’s seat of the vehicle during a traffic stop while officers were attending to the female driver who was believed to have overdosed, Arnold said.

A short time later, troopers from the Hamilton Post spotted the vehicle traveling south on Interstate 75 between a rest stop and the exit to Ohio 129 and initiated a traffic stop. The vehicle did not pull over and attempted to flee from the trooper. The Cadillac quickly accelerated and exited onto west 129.

Once on 129, the vehicle abruptly stopped in the roadway and did a U-turn in the middle of westbound lanes. Prior to getting completely turned around and going the wrong way in traffic, the trooper used his patrol car to block and push the fleeing suspect into the ditch. The Cadillac was pushed off the roadway but was still able to get out of the ditch going through the median and getting back onto the eastbound side of 129 heading east towards Interstate 75, according to Arnold.

The driver entered back onto Interstate 75 northbound continuing to flee from the troopers. The vehicle was able to avoid stop sticks at the Ohio 3 Monroe exit and continued north.

At the Ohio 122 Middletown exit, the suspect attempted to avoid troopers again by doing another U-turn on 75. In efforts to keep the suspect from driving the wrong direction on 75, troopers used their cruisers to block and push the Cadillac into the concrete wall. The Cadillac was spun to the proper direction on the highway, however it withstood the impact and continued north on 75 until exiting at the Ohio 123 Franklin exit.

Once on Route 123, the suspect fled west entering into Franklin while being pursued by troopers. The suspect continued to drive erratically and dangerously, attempting to drive his car into the cruisers.

Arnold said troopers boxed in the Cadillac, but the driver was able to back out while driving in reverse through town. Once at the intersection of First and Main street the troopers were able to completely stop the Cadillac. The suspect attempted to run on foot but was quickly apprehended without further incident.

“We have no intentions of damaging our cars and other people’s cars but this individual was a danger to himself, the officers and other motorists,” Arnold said.

One trooper was transported to a hospital for minor injuries and was released. Franklin, Monroe and Middletown police departments assisted with the incident.

The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO 9 News.