Arrests announced in Ohio freeway crime spree
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Two arrests have been made in relation to a Thursday crime spree when three men allegedly drove off in a stolen Porsche and robbed a bank in west Columbus before exchanging gunfire with police on Interstate 70.
Kenneth L. Parker, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced the arrests Saturday afternoon.
Parker said Aden Abdullahi Jama, 20, of Reynoldsburg, was arrested Saturday at Chicago O'Hare International Airport by the United States Marshals Service. Jama had purchased a ticket leaving at 12:35 p.m. for Turkey, Parker said.
Fazsal M. Darod, 23, of Columbus, was arrested early Friday morning outside of his Columbus home, according to Parker's announcement.
Both Jama and Darod are charged at the federal level with aiding and abetting a bank robbery and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Aiding and abetting a bank robbery is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the firearm charge is punishable by at least five years to life in prison.
Parker said the U.S. Attorney’s Office will ask that both suspects be held without bond.
An officer was shot by one of the suspects during the pursuit. Parker said Saturday that the officer is "doing well" and appreciates the community's support. Police have not released his identity. Parker said investigators have not identified which of the suspects shot the officer.
One of the suspects in connection to the incident was shot and killed by a Columbus police officer on I-70 following the chase. Officials have not released the identity of this suspect.
“The investigation is not over,” Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Daryl S. McCormick said. “It’s a very active investigation and it will be for several days and weeks or however long it takes for us to make sure that we have all the information we need to make the best case to bring justice for all those victims we just talked about.”
Police had searched for two others they said ran from the scene, with one of them reportedly being taken into custody early Friday, something Parker confirmed Saturday.
The pursuit began around 2 p.m. Thursday after several law enforcement agencies responded to reports of an armed robbery at a Porsche dealership on the 400 block of North Hamilton Road in Whitehall, according to Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert.
There, three men demanded the keys to a black Porsche SUV and drove it to rob a Fifth Third Bank on the 2400 block of Hilliard Rome Road on the city’s west side, police said.
Several law enforcement agencies and at least two police helicopters followed the stolen Porsche to I-70 near West Mound Street, where the shootout — which involved eight officers — began. According to Albert, multiple officers discharged their weapons during the standoff.
According to Parker, two guns -- a Glock handgun with an extended magazine and a semiautomatic handgun -- were recovered at the scene.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations is leading the investigation into the shooting of the suspect, which is protocol in shootings involving police officers.