COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbus police say an officer fired shots at a suspected vehicle thief who drove a van at the officer.
-This article has been updated toi include the name of the officer involved.
Officers from the Community Response Team were keeping an eye on a stolen van in the area of Martha and Union Avenues on the West Side just before 9:30 Monday morning when a man identified as Rondale Johnson drove up in stolen pickup and got into the van.
Officer Keith O’Connor, a 14-year veteran of the Patrol Bureau, pulled up to the van in a marked cruiser and tried to take Johnson, 18, into custody when Johnson drove the van at O’Connor, who fired multiple times at the van, spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
Johnson crashed the van at the intersection of Thomas and Union Avenues (above), a short distance from the shooting scene, was arrested and taken to Mt. Carmel West Hospital where he was listed in stable condition with head injuries. Weiner says it was not immediately known if the injuries were the result of the shooting or the crash.
Weiner says Johnson is charged with two felony counts of receiving stolen property and more charges are anticipated pending further investigation.
This is the first police involved shooting for 2015.
Columbus Police were involved in nine police involved shootings in 2014, Weiner said.
The incident will be investigated by the Critical Incident Response Team made up of specially trained investigators from the Homicide Unit and the final report will be forwarded to the division’s Firearms/Police-Involved Death Review Board and the chain of command for review.