COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Franklin County grand jury voted Friday not to indict a Columbus police officer for shooting a man who ran from a traffic stop earlier this year, according to Prosecuting Attorney Gary Tyack.
The incident occurred on Feb. 5 when Officer Joshua Ohlinger and another officer initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by 66-year-old Michael Cleveland.
Ohlinger said in a statement that Cleveland took out a gun from his waistband as he fled, causing Ohlinger to fire his gun, striking Cleveland in the torso.
He was taken to the hospital for treatment and survived his injuries. Police recovered a gun from Cleveland.
Police released body camera and dash camera video from the incident the day after the shooting.
Dashcam video shows officers following a black truck around 3 p.m. After following the truck for about a minute, Cleveland drove into an alley on Wilson Avenue and parked behind a building. It's unclear if police activated their lights while the officers were following him.
The dashcam footage shows that Cleveland got out of his vehicle and started running away from police. Officer Ohlinger started chasing him.
Ohlinger's body camera video shows he had his stun gun pulled out, but then pulled out his firearm a second later.
Cleveland ran in between two buildings and that's where Ohlinger fired six times, striking Cleveland at least once.
After being struck, Cleveland fell to the ground. Ohlinger told Cleveland to show him his hands, to which Cleveland said he couldn't. Ohlinger then asked where the gun was. Cleveland replied that he threw it.
The officers handcuffed Cleveland before rendering aid.
According to Franklin County Municipal Court records, Cleveland was charged with having weapons while under disability. The records say Cleveland was in possession of a Sig Sauer .40-caliber pistol.
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