Franklin County deputy wounded in shootout returns home

An honor escort of law enforcement officers was there to greet Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob “Jake” Heaberlin on his release from OhioHealth Grant Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon.

Heaberlin, 29, was wounded in the lower abdomen on May 12 when he and two Franklin Township police officers traded gunfire with Darrell Bruffy, 55, of Orient, on Harrisburg Pike and Eakin Road. Bruffy was killed in the exchange.

Heaberlin had begun pursuing Bruffy, who was driving a Ford F-250 pickup truck erratically and had struck a vehicle in the area of Bohnburg Avenue and Big Run Bluffs Boulevard on Columbus’ West Side before taking off. Heaberlin tried to stop the pickup near Clime Road, but Bruffy kept going.

Bruffy ran his pickup into a utility pole in front of a Shell station at the corner of Harrisburg Pike and Eakin. Heaberlin, with gun drawn, approached the driver’s side and ordered Bruffy to get out of the car, according to eyewitnesses.

What followed was three separate bursts totaling more than 30 shots in less than a minute. Both Heaberlin and Bruffy were down. The bullet that struck Heaberlin hit just below his armored vest.

Heaberlin had been in OhioHealth Grant Medical Center since the shootout. Other Franklin County deputies, along with officers from the Columbus Police Traffic Control Motorcycle Unit, gave him an honor escort home, according to a sheriff’s office post on social media.