NEW PHILADELPHIA – A former northeast Ohio police officer has pleaded guilty to charges he tried to cover up a suicide attempt by falsely claiming he’d been shot during a traffic stop.
Former Newcomerstown police officer Bryan Eubanks claimed people in a car shot him in the arm during a traffic stop in April, prompting a statewide alert for suspects, but later told investigators he had shot himself and was fired, authorities said.
A man was taken into custody and released several hours later.
Eubanks, 37, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Tuscarawas County to felony charges of inducing panic, making false alarms, tampering with evidence, forgery and a misdemeanor charge of workers’ compensation fraud, according to the state attorney general’s office.
A message seeking comment was left with Eubanks’ attorney.