Driver killed while fleeing; officer hurt
A driver stopped by Columbus police Wednesday was fatally shot after he hit the accelerator while an officer attempted to remove him from his car, police said. The incident started just after 5 p.m., when two officers stopped Jason Thomas Christian, 32, of Whitehall, because he had outstanding traffic warrants from there, said Sgt. Rich Weiner, Columbus Police Division spokesman. Police also wanted to question Christian because he was a suspect in numerous thefts from motor vehicles in Columbus,
Whitehall and other places in central Ohio, Weiner said. Officers had been following him throughout the day.
After the officers turned on their cruiser's lights, Christian pulled the Honda Civic over at a Mobil gas station at the northwest corner of Lockbourne Road and Frebis Avenue on the South Side, Weiner said.
The two officers approached the car, told Christian that he was under arrest and opened his car door. One officer grabbed Christian by the elbow, the sergeant said.
“He did not want to come out of the car,” Weiner said. “He put the car in gear and tried to get away.”
The car lurched forward, dragging the officer and clipping another car in the Mobil lot. The open driver’s door on the Civic bounced back into the officer, who then fired his service weapon multiple times at Christian, Weiner said. Both Christian and the officer fell onto the pavement, Weiner said.
The unoccupied car continued rolling forward, jumping a curb and running into one of the service station’s air machines before coming to a stop.
Christian was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:54 p.m., police said.
The officer was knocked to the ground and sustained “road rash” on his legs and a minor arm injury. He was treated at Grant, police said. His partner was not injured.
Weiner said the incident was captured by the gas station’s security cameras, and the video supports the account given by officers and witnesses.
Christian, who had a tattoo that said "Love Is Pain," was unarmed. But his car became a weapon, Weiner said.
“It comes down to compliance,” Weiner said. “When you do something like this, that is serious physical harm. That is trying to severely hurt a police officer. If you don’t comply, that can have deadly consequences.”
The identities of the two officers were not released. The actions of the male officer who fired will be reviewed by the Police Division and a Franklin County grand jury.
A warrant had been filed for Christian earlier this week in Franklin County Municipal Court because he had violated terms of his guilty plea to a charge of receiving stolen property, a first-degree misdemeanor, from a Columbus police case from February 2016.
Christian also had recently appeared in Municipal Court on charges of felony theft and possession of criminal tools, filed April 11 from Grandview Heights. And he was charged with felony breaking and entering and tampering with evidence charges April 12 by Grove City police.
The Grandview and Grove City cases were turned over to the Franklin County prosecutor's office for further consideration.