COLUMBUS – Columbus police say a serial robbery suspect is in stable condition after he was shot at by one SWAT officer and hit by a cruiser driven by another while fleeing the scene of an attempted armed holdup Thursday night on the Southeast Side, a division spokesman said.
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Clifton Satterwhite and two accomplices allegedly robbed the O’Reilly Auto Parts store at gunpoint on Parsons Avenue at the intersection with Sheldon Avenue just before 8:35 p.m. when SWAT officers on a robbery stakeout pursued them to another nearby intersection and one of the officers shot at Satterwhite while another struck him with a vehicle when Satterwhite reached into his waistband while running away, said Sgt. Rich Weiner.
Satterwhite, 37; Ramone Wright, 33, and Vandyke Chao Nu, 24, were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery but Weiner says the trio are suspects in about a dozen robberies in the last month, so additional charges could be filed.
Weiner says an employee called police to report the store was being held up by two masked gunmen. The SWAT officers on the stakeout told responding patrol officers to delay their arrival for the safety of the employees and customers, Weiner said, and when two of the suspects left the store and drove away in a waiting vehicle the SWAT officers pursued them to the intersection of S. High Street and E. Morrill Avenue where Satterwhite got out of the vehicle and tried to run away.
When two officers saw him reach into the waistband of his pants, one officer fired his weapon and another hit Satterwhite with a vehicle, sending him to Grant Medical Center, Weiner said.
Weiner says officers were waiting for a warrant to search the suspects’ vehicle and did not say if a weapon had been recovered at the scene.
The incident will be investigated by the division’s Critical Incident Response Team made up of specially trained investigators from the Homicide Unit and the findings will be forwarded to the Firearms/Police-Involved Death Review Board and senior division officials, Weiner said.