The latest chase by Ohio Police might be the definition of “That escalated quickly!”
The Wooster, Ohio Police Department heard a report about a stolen license plate. This is the year 2025, so the department just fed the tag numbers into their city’s traffic camera system. Sure enough, the plates pinged. The thief had bolted them onto a silver Honda Pilot. So far so good.
A police officer spotted said Honda and signaled for it to pull over. Instead of fleeing, the suspect pulled over. Then he got out of his car and opened fire on the police officer. His aim was good enough that he hit the cruiser’s windshield. The Wooster Police officer didn’t flinch. He drew his own weapon and returned fire. The suspect jumped back into his Honda and took off.
Ohio police officer calls in the reinforcements
With a bullet in his windshield, the Wooster PD officer decided not to try a pursuit. Again, this is 2025. Wooster simply put out a call about the Honda. And again, authorities spotted it the next time it drove by a traffic camera. The Wayne County Sheriff and Ohio State Highway Patrol descended on the suspect.
Officers chased the Honda through a neighborhood. The Honda driver continued to shoot out the window at officers, then fled onto the highway. The police weren’t having it. Officers from the OSHP and the Dalton Police Department collided with the vehicle, running it off the road.
They found the suspect had been shot during the initial exchange of gunfire with the Wooster Officer. They took him into custody and took him to the hospital for a wound they describe as life threatening. Forty eight hours later, there’s been no update on his condition. No officers were injured in the incident.
Why was the suspect so keen to not get arrested for stealing license plates? Perhaps he had stolen them planning to commit another crime incognito. Or perhaps he had another issue such as a suspended license or warrant out, so he thought he couldn’t afford to get arrested. Whatever his reasoning, he’s in the hospital with a gunshot wound and probably wishing he’d made a different choice. You can see the dashcam footage of the chase embedded below:
