The suspect threatened to shoot a couple of people and take his own life or to drive into oncoming traffic if officers wouldn’t stop tailing him
July 16, 2023 at 11:28
Calling 911 is something that most people hope they never have to do. For one person in Toledo, his call to emergency services ended up getting him far more attention from the police than he was hoping for. Instead of convincing the police to stop chasing him, they ramped up the pressure due to the nature of his call.
That man is a 37-year-old out of Holland, Ohio, and police initially spotted him at about 1 am in the morning around the intersection of Auburn and Bancroft. Authorities say that he was standing by a car with its lights off and they initiated contact based on a series of recent break-ins in the area. That’s when he hopped into his Honda Civic and sped away.
The ensuing chase covered dozens of miles over the course of about an hour. At some point in the process, the man thought he might try calling 911 to get the police off of his tail. “Why are they chasing me,” he can be heard saying on his call to dispatch. The threats started to really fly after that.
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“Do I need to start shooting out the window?” he then asks before saying that he’ll shoot a couple of people and then shoot himself. Police initially used stop sticks to disable the vehicle but the suspect continued fleeing even when down to a single functional wheel and tire. That’s when Toledo police used a PIT maneuver to bring the chase to an end. After tasing him, police brought the man into custody and took him to the hospital for undisclosed injuries.
Interestingly, Toledo police seem to have violated policy during this chase on at least two accounts. Firstly, only three units are allowed to be a part of any chase unless a commanding officer approves more. Secondly, officers aren’t trained or approved to use the PIT maneuver that ultimately stopped the fleeing suspect.
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Whether or not any of the officers will face discipline over these potential breaches of policy is unknown at this time. In similar past incidents, commanding officers have waived penalties in light of the risk that fleeing suspects posed to the public. That could be true of this case as well given the driver’s stated intent to harm.