A police pursuit that began in Springfield Township Saturday evening ended when Akron Police officers shot the driver of a semi-truck along East Market Street in Akron’s Middlebury neighborhood after he struck multiple police cruisers and other vehicles.
The pursuit began in the IHOP parking lot at 2877 S. Arlington Road following what Springfield Township Police said on Facebook was a report of a man creating a disturbance inside the restaurant.
When police arrived, the suspect exited the restaurant, boarded a semi-truck and pulled onto South Arlington Road before turning into the Walmart parking lot at 2887 South Arlington.
Officers positioned a marked cruiser in the semi-truck’s path as it moved westbound toward South Arlington Road, in an attempt to contain the vehicle at the rear of the property. The driver briefly stopped but would not get out of the vehicle, Springfield Police said in a statement.
Officers attempted to physically remove the suspect from the truck, which accelerated, then maneuvered around the blocking cruiser and toward the road. One officer jumped from the moving vehicle — a second officer was thrown from the truck and injured, police said. (The officer was transported to a local hospital. Their condition is unknown at this time.)
Springfield Township Police pursued the truck northbound on I-77 but terminated the chase once it crossed into the City of Akron.
Semi-truck is located in Middlebury parking lot
The semi-truck was located by Akron Police officers, including Summit County Sheriff’s deputies and “officers from other jurisdictions,” according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s department, in a parking lot in the 1700 block of East Market Street near Brittain Road.
The driver, whose name was not released, hit multiple police cruisers before heading westbound on East Market Street, according to a statement issued Saturday evening by Akron Police.
As the truck approached the intersection of Innovation Way and East Market Street, it hit another police cruiser and several other non-police vehicles. Two Akron Police officers shot at the driver, striking him at least once.
The driver was transported to a local hospital. Police said his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. An Akron Police officer sustained a minor injury at the scene, according to a statement from Akron Mayor Shammas Malik issued Sunday afternoon.
Police said the two officers involved have approximately six years and nearly three years of police service, respectively. They were placed on paid administrative leave while Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which responded to the scene, conducts its investigation of the incident.
Following the investigation, the case will be submitted to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for review before being presented to the Summit County Grand Jury.
The Akron Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards and Accountability, its internal affairs department, will then conduct its own investigation.