WOOSTER — The reported theft of a vehicle license plate led to two police pursuits and an officer-involved shooting on Wednesday, according to the Wooster Police Department.
The suspect in the case, whom authorities had not identified as of Thursday morning, was eventually taken into custody and flown by medical helicopter to Akron General Hospital with what police described as life-threatening gunshot wounds.
The incident began at about 3:30 p.m. when Wooster police investigated the theft of a license plate from a vehicle in the 600 block of Madison Avenue, according to an emailed press release from WPD Capt. Tony Lemmon.
The plate was entered into the department’s Flock license-plate reading camera system.
“It was determined that the license plate had been placed on a silver Honda Pilot and the vehicle was traveling in the northern part of the city,” Lemmon said.
Officers located the vehicle and a short pursuit started before being called off by Wooster police.
“The vehicle was spotted again on the east side of town and an officer initiated a traffic stop at Geyers Chapel Road, just south of Back Orrville Road,” the captain said.
“The suspect immediately exited his vehicle and fired several rounds at the officer. The officer returned fire, at which time the suspect entered his vehicle and fled from the scene. Wooster police did not pursue at this time due to (vehicle) damage from being struck by gunfire,” Lemmon said.
The captain said Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio State Highway Patrol located the vehicle and a second pursuit began.
“The suspect fired several more rounds at officers from the vehicle during the pursuit. No officers fired any rounds during this pursuit,” Lemmon said.
The suspect re-entered the City of Wooster and vehicles from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Dalton Police Department collided with the suspect vehicle on Cleveland Road at the Dix Expressway exit ramp, he said.
“The suspect was taken into custody and transported to Wooster Community Hospital and then transported via (medical helicopter) to Akron General Hospital. The suspect sustained life-threatening injuries from an apparent gunshot wound. No officers were injured during this event,” Lemmon said.
Assistance with the investigation is being provided by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and The Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Agencies involved in the pursuit were the Wooster Police Department, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, The Ohio State Highway Patrol, Dalton Police Department, and Medway Drug Enforcement Agency, according to Lemmon.