Man charged with kidnapping in shooting, possibly by police

A South Side man – who may or may not have been shot by a Columbus police officer – has been charged with kidnapping for allegedly holding a woman at gunpoint while a child was in the backseat of her car, police state in court documents.

Marquise Dakota Artis, is charged with kidnapping for an incident that began around 9:15 p.m. Sunday on the Near East Side and led to a pursuit that ended at his South Side home with him suffering from a gunshot wound, police said.

Artis was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition Monday. What remained unclear, however, was whether Artis was shot by the woman he intended to kidnap or by a city police officer.

A woman whom police say “was known to Artis” was trying to leave her home when Artis jumped into the passenger seat of her vehicle and pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his waistband, court documents allege. Artis “demanded that she drive him wherever he wanted.”

The woman’s 6-year-old child was in the backseat, police say in the court documents.

As they drove, Artis allegedly became angry at messages he found on the woman’s phone and struck her on the right side of the head, police allege.

The victim grabbed Artis’ gun and told her 6-year-old to get out of the car while at a traffic light at East Livingston Avenue and Alum Creek Drive. Artis allegedly reached into the back seat where the child was, and the woman began firing his gun at him as she got out of the vehicle, documents state.

The woman and the child both got out of the vehicle uninjured, records state. Artis got into the driver’s seat of the woman’s car and fled the scene.

Responding officers attempted to intervene in the shooting when Artis drove off down East Livingston Avenue. Officers broadcast a description of the vehicle and the direction it was heading over police radio for other officers in the area.

Officers searching for the vehicle spotted it and pursued it to the area of Parsons Avenue and East Kossuth Street on the city’s South Side. Police state in court documents that Artis became involved in an altercation there with several officers attempting to arrest him, and one officer fired a weapon, police said.

Artis then drove off again in the vehicle, abandoning it in the 800 block of Ann Street where he lives, and fleeing on foot, police said.

Officers who had continued to pursue Artis found a blood trail from the vehicle and followed it to a home on that block. Artis was found inside that home with a gunshot wound. He was taken to Ohiohealth Grant Medical Center, where he is recovering.

Columbus police do not know if Artis was injured in the original shooting when the woman grabbed his gun and began firing or whether it was in the altercation with police. A firearm was recovered at the location of the original shooting, police said.

A spokesperson for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) said the investigation is ongoing and would not comment on how Artis was injured.

BCI is leading the investigation into the Columbus officer discharging the weapon, as is city Division of Police policy. Columbus police Special Victims Bureau is investigating the original shooting at Alum Creek Drive and East Livingston Avenue.

Cole Behrens is a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch covering public safety and breaking news. You can reach him at Cbehrens@dispatch.com