HILLIARD, Ohio — Two teens admitted to randomly firing shots on Interstate 270 while driving a stolen Kia earlier this week, according to police.
A 911 caller reported to Hilliard police seeing the Kia with teens inside speeding through a park Tuesday afternoon. What those teens didn't know is that Hilliard police are keeping a close eye on the parks.
Hilliard Police Sergeant Justin Cramer said several undercover and uniformed officers were in Roger Reynolds Municipal Park when the call came in. Police chased the car down the street to a subdivision when the teens, ages 15 and 17, got out of the stolen Kia and tried to run away. They were taken into custody, and that's when police found the gun.
“We found multiple spent shell casings in that car. Clearly, they had just committed some drive-by shooting,” Cramer said.
Cramer said the teens admitted they had stolen the gun, and were shooting at random while driving on I-270 from the Dublin area to Hilliard.
“As we talked to them about what was their reasoning for doing that, they alluded to us it's fun, it's exciting, the adrenaline rush. That's what we are dealing with right now,” Cramer said.
Cramer said Hilliard police are noticing more crime in the parks.
10TV has reported on stolen vehicles at the municipal park this summer.
Hilliard police have both undercover officers and marked cruisers patrolling the area.
“This all started at the beginning of summer. We started to see an uptick in crime, specifically juvenile crime in regards to stolen vehicles. Those have started to lead to violent crime,” Cramer said.
According to Hilliard police, there were 28 cars reported stolen in all of 2021.
There have already been 20 cars reported stolen so far this year.
Cramer explains that's why his department is being proactive to catch the teen thieves.
“They feel emboldened right now and not only is it a danger to these kids who are doing this, but all these law-abiding, innocent civilians out here. We need to stop this immediately,” he said.
Hilliard police tell me those teens are being investigated for other crimes. One teen is being held, the other has been released on an electronic monitoring device.