Newark police fire at suspect in stabbing
NEWARK — A woman was hospitalized with stab wounds and police fired at the man suspected of hurting her following a chase Wednesday afternoon through Licking County.
Newark police responded just after 2:30 p.m. to a residence on the 400 block of Garfield Avenue on reports of a stabbing. In a 911 call, a neighbor on Garfield reported that a woman had been stabbed by her boyfriend.
“She’s stabbed up,” the neighbor told the dispatcher, describing wounds to the woman’s neck and back. “I just come to the door, and she was yelling for help.”
The caller then told the dispatcher that he saw a man leaving and getting into a vehicle. Officers arriving at the scene observed a man driving away and they began chasing the car.
Raymond David Taylor, 36, led police on a chase for several miles northeast to the 2500 block of Montgomery Road in rural Madison Township, where he drove downhill and into a field about 100 yards off the road, said Newark Police Sgt. Clint Eskins.
At some point after officers followed Taylor’s vehicle into the field, shots were fired, Eskins said. Authorities would not offer any additional details as to which officer or officers fired shots, whether Taylor had a gun and fired shots, or how many rounds were fired.
Taylor was taken to Licking Memorial Hospital in Newark with what are believed to be minor injuries and “is talking,” Eskins said. It was unclear whether Taylor was struck by gunfire, the sergeant said.
Taylor is in police custody on a charge of fleeing from law enforcement, Eskins said, and additional charges will be considered.
The stabbing victim, whose name has not yet been released, was taken to Licking County Memorial Hospital and later moved to a Columbus hospital, Eskins said. Her condition wasn’t available Wednesday evening.
On a recording of law-enforcement radio traffic obtained by The Dispatch, officers can be heard pursuing Taylor out of the city, approaching speeds of 90 mph, before turning off the road and into the field.
“He’s coming right at us,” an officer said, before shouting that shots were fired.
“Shots fired! Shots fired! Get out of the (expletive) car! Get out!” one officer shouted. Less than a minute later, officers indicated they had a suspect contained.
The Licking County sheriff’s office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are handling the investigation into the officer-involved shooting. Newark police are handling the stabbing investigation.
The three Newark officers on the scene of Wednesday’s shooting have varying levels of experience with the department, Eskins said. One is “a fairly new officer,” and the other two have been on the force for several years, he said. All three were immediately placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which is standard procedure, Eskins said.
Taylor was indicted in April on two counts of domestic violence and one count of escape, all fourth-degree felonies, according to Licking County Common Pleas Court records. Those charges stem from a March incident in which Taylor allegedly threatened a family member with a pocket knife. He stated he would burn the house down and choked another family member before fleeing the Newark residence, records show. After Taylor was arrested and handcuffed, he tried to run away before officers again apprehended him a short distance away, according to court documents.
Taylor also was convicted in a 2015 domestic-violence case in Licking County Municipal Court.