Shots fired during police pursuit Sunday in Lawrence Township
LAWRENCE TWP. ‒ Shots were fired during a pursuit Sunday evening involving deputies from the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office and troopers with the Ohio Highway Patrol.
A woman in the vehicle being pursued by law enforcement was struck by a bullet and treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital in Canton.
The incident began around 11 p.m. when a trooper from the New Philadelphia post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol made a traffic stop on a 2014 Ford Explorer for a turn signal violation on Interstate 77 near Strasburg. The vehicle exited the interstate and pulled over into a gas station parking lot. After making contact with the driver, the trooper requested backup, according to a press release from the patrol. Once backup arrived, the vehicle fled the scene, and the pursuit began.
According to a press release from the Sheriff Orvis Campbell, deputies received a call at 11:15 p.m. to assist troopers with a pursuit on Fort Laurens Road.
The pursuit continued to the intersection of Schneiders Crossing Road and Blacksnake Hill Road south of Zoar where deputies attempted to deploy stop sticks. According to initial reports, when deputies deployed the stop sticks, the vehicle being pursued swerved and drove directly toward two deputies. One deputy felt his life was at risk and fired at the vehicle, Campbell said.
The pursuit continued to Ohio 212 and Dover Zoar Road and ended at the Zoar Levee, where the driver of the vehicle finally pulled over. It was then that law enforcement officials learned that the woman in the vehicle had been struck with a bullet in her lower leg.
The driver of the vehicle, a 43-year-old Gnadenhutten man, was arrested on a warrant out of Southern District Court and incarcerated in the Tuscarawas County Jail. The Ohio Highway Patrol will be seeking additional charges related to the pursuit.
Campbell said he has requested that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances and the lawfulness of the shooting.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Shots fired during police pursuit in Lawrence Township; woman injured
