The city's mayor said he may ask for an outside agency to review the conduct of his police force after a 10 Investigates probe involving an officer and his longtime friend, 10TV News reported Thursday.
The identity of the officer, who is married, is not named in this report because he has not been disciplined.
In late December, his girlfriend of 14 years verbally confronted him. Police said she had a gun in her car, alcohol on her breath and shooting on her mind, Aker reported. Her identity is not named in this report because of concerns for her well-being.
She was charged with a felony for having a loaded 40-caliber handgun in her possession when she was stopped by a Pickerington police officer on Dec. 28.
Video of the traffic stop obtained by 10 Investigates showed the tail end of an evening that included threats of suicide and perhaps threats against police.
The trouble started as the woman sent a series of text messages to the officer, saying, "I'm done. I'm gonna do it."
Then, a little later, she sent a text that said, "I'm in the car with a gun on my lap" and "I'm killing myself if someone doesn't do it for me."
According to the police report, the woman "was driving...to kill either herself or (the officer)." She then, according to the police report, made another statement on text "challenging all R.P.D officers."
Reynoldsburg police then called OnStar to start tracking the car. However, police did not obtain a warrant. Reynoldsburg's police chief said he did not need one.
The texts continued, Aker reported.
The woman wrote, "We'll see how strong your boys are. One of your boys will be forced to light me up."
More than an hour later, Pickerington police stopped her at a gas station. According to their police department, the woman was pulled over because of a minor traffic violation. Surveillance video taken from the police cruiser's dash showed the officer approached her without pulling his weapon, an indication that he was unaware of the potential danger.
As the Pickerington officer approached, the Reynoldsburg police sergeant who requested the OnStar trace was just moments away and drove to the scene. At about the time he arrived there, technical issues clouded the events that occurred next.
Pickerington police said that the officer's dash-cam hit capacity and abruptly stopped recording. The microphone for the Reynoldsburg sergeant did not record even though video obtained from earlier in the evening showed it worked earlier.
According to Reynoldsburg's written police policy, the camera should have been on for the stop. Other dispatch recordings obtained from 10 Investigates showed that Pickerington police were surprised the woman had a gun.
"Yeah, I guess the gun was in her lap," a Reynoldsburg dispatcher said on the recording. "Yeah, we didn't even know there was a gun at all," the Pickerington dispatcher responded.
Reynoldsburg Police Chief Dave Suciu said that the traffic stop was handled the way any stop would be handled. Suciu said that he did not want to speculate on the relationship between the officer and suspect and acknowledged he never asked. Suciu said that nobody could explain why the microphone stopped working.
Suciu told Aker that his department has never activated OnStar tracking under similar circumstances.
Columbus police said that they don't request OnStar tracking unless there is a stolen car and they have the owner's permission.
Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for additional information.
Reynoldsburg Police Conduct Questioned In Probe Involving Officer, Longtime Friend
Sources say that a woman who was a police officer's girlfriend snapped and police activated OnStar to follow her. The question is did Reynoldsburg police do everything by the book and what happened to recording equipment during the woman's arrest?