Columbus officer not indicted for fatally shooting Bob Evans armed robbery suspect
A Franklin County grand jury has decided not to indict a Columbus police officer for the fatal 2020 shooting of a gunman who had assaulted the manager and robbed a Bob Evans restaurant.
The grand jury reviewed the Jan. 25, 2020 shooting of Joshua Brown, 34, of the South Side by Columbus police officer Jeffrey Miller, a 15-year veteran, and decided there was not enough evidence for the state to bring charges against Miller, the Franklin County Prosecutor's office said Wednesday.
Context:Columbus police identify officer and suspect in fatal police shooting
It has long been standard procedure in the county to bring all fatal shootings by law enforcement before a grand jury.
About 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, 2020, several customers and employees of the Bob Evans restaurant on the 1400 block of Olentangy River Road near Ohio State University called 911 and reported a gunman wearing a hockey mask had walked into the restaurant and forced a manager into the back office at gunpoint.
Police said Brown pistol-whipped the female manager and took money from a safe. Brown was holding the manager hostage at gunpoint when a customer confronted him with a fire extinguisher.
Brown fled through a rear door of the restaurant, where Miller and a partner had responded, and ran to a neighboring parking lot of the Varsity Inn, according to the prosecutor's office. Miller’s partner chased the suspect while Miller remained in the vehicle, according to the prosecutor's office.
Brown ran back toward Miller, who told Brown to show his hands, prosecutor's said. Brown continued running toward Miller, raising his hand with what appeared to Miller to be a firearm, according to the prosecutor's office. Miller shot twice, striking Brown once.
Police found Brown's gun behind a fence where security footage from the hotel shows Brown dropped it moments before the encounter with Miller, the press release said.
Employees said that Brown was recently fired from the restaurant.
Past reporting:Here are the names of people killed in police shootings in Columbus
In 2020, Columbus police officers killed five people, including Brown, three of whom CDP said were armed crime suspects.
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police officer not indicted in fatal shooting
