Man shot by Beech Grove officer Friday released from hospital, booked into jail

Jake Allen, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read

The man accused of stealing a Honda Civic and leading police on a chase north of Beech Grove has been released from the hospital and booked into jail after an officer shot him in the shoulder, according to court records.

Gerald Smith, 42, is facing a preliminary charge of resisting law enforcement. He was shot by Darrin McGuire, an officer with Beech Grove Police Department for 23 years.

The shooting, which happened Friday afternoon on the southeast side of Indianapolis, is being investigated by the Indiana State Police.

The chase began when a Beech Grove officer spotted a maroon Honda Civic, which matched the description of a recently stolen vehicle. Smith, who was driving the Honda, pulled into a gas station in the 3700 block of Raymond Street, according to the probable cause affidavit for his arrest.

The Beech Grove officer followed the Honda into the gas station parking lot and parked so that the front bumpers of both vehicles were touching.

Indiana State Police officers and other investigators work the scene where a stolen vehicle pursuit ended with a person shot Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, on Raymond Street, west of the intersection with Emerson Avenue, in Indianapolis. ISP confirmed that a Beech Grove officer fired their weapon and the person fleeing in the stolen vehicle had a gunshot wound, as of 2 p.m. The suspect was in stable condition at the time.

Previous coverage: State Police: Beech Grove officer fires shot after vehicle pursuit, 1 person injured

Smith began slowly backing away despite the officer telling him to stop. Smith then put the Honda in drive, struck the officer’s vehicle and exited the parking lot onto Raymond Street, the affidavit reads.

An officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department joined the chase and the Beech Grove officer tried twice to use his squad car to stop the stolen Honda, according to the affidavit.

About a mile from where the chase began, the officer used his vehicle to stop the Honda on the third try by striking its rear quarter panel. The Honda spun out and became lodged on top of a raised median on Emerson Avenue, just south of the intersection with Raymond Street, according to the affidavit.

The officer who chased Smith used his patrol car to box in the Honda. Two other Beech Grove officers arrived, including McGuire, and they also used their police vehicles to box in the stolen Honda.

The officers got out of their vehicles and Smith began driving back and forth, striking the police cars with the officers nearby. Smith ignored commands from police and was reaching around inside his vehicle, according to the affidavit.

As Smith was ramming into the police vehicles, McGuire fired one shot and struck Smith in the shoulder. Smith continued to try and free the Honda from the curb and disregarded commands from the officers. He eventually stopped trying to free the vehicle then refused to exit the Honda for several minutes before surrendering, the affidavit reads.

Officers were wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting, which remains under investigation, according to the Indiana State Police. No officers or uninvolved people were hurt.

An attorney for Smith was not yet listed in online court records before publication of this article.

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Beech Grove police shooting: Man wounded by officer booked into jail