February 18
1:08 am A Cadillac Deville was pulled over on Hill Road in front of Popeyes for an expired license plate. After officers noticed the backseat passenger acting strangely, Pataskala’s K9 unit was called to assist. Shards of a meth pipe were allegedly found under the driver’s seat, but the police found no drugs.
2:33 am An officer allegedly clocked a Toyota Prius driving 75 mph on Diley Road where the limit is 45 mph. He activated his lights, but the vehicle did not pull over. The officer followed the Prius into the Cherry Hill neighborhood where it came to a stop in a cul-de-sac. The car began to shake as if someone was moving around inside.
When the officer approached the car, the only occupant was a 22-year-old Pickerington man sitting in the backseat on the passenger’s side. The man told the officer that the driver, a stranger he had just met at a bar, had run away.
The officer told the man that he saw the Prius come to a stop and nobody exited. There was also a fresh shoe mark on the steering wheel but no footprints in the snow outside the car.
4:58 pm A 52-year-old Columbus woman was cited for allegedly backing into a Honda Ridgeline with her Nissan Pathfinder in the Graystone neighborhood. The woman told police that she had been looking for a house. When she realized that she had passed it, she placed her car in reverse. With the sun in her eyes, she could not see the Ridgeline.
The driver of the Ridgeline said that he had just parked along the curb when he saw the Nissan back towards his vehicle. He hit his horn but it did not prevent the collision.
February 20
12:52 am An officer followed a Chevrolet Avalanche from Diley Road to Willow Pond because its tag had expired. Neither the driver, a 36-year-old Grove City man, nor his passenger, a 33-year-old Columbus man, had a valid driver’s license.
The Grove City man was wanted on multiple warrants. The Columbus man had a protection order filed against him by the Chevrolet’s registered owner.
7:32 am A family in Sycamore Creek reported that someone broke all four side windows on their Honda Civic and taken a Coach bag valued at $200.
February 21
12:12 pm A 63-year-old woman reported that she had been the victim of a scam. She said that right before Christmas she had met “Paul McCartney” on Facebook. He told her that he would meet her if she joined his fan club. To join the club, she needed to send money by purchasing Apple Gift Cards and Bitcoin.
From December 28 through January 20, the woman made nine Bitcoin transfers totaling $7,820. From January 29 through February 18, she purchased Apple gift cards totaling $3,700. To help pay for the transactions, she had withdrawn $2,000 from her husband’s account and taken out a $3,000 bank loan.
5:20 pm After police pulled over a Ford Focus for an expired registration, the officer discovered the license plate belonged to a different vehicle. The driver, a 24-year-old Reynoldsburg man, was cited.
February 23
12:41 am After receiving a report that a 30-year-old Columbus man was “creating issues” at Heritage Bar, the police issued the man a “no-trespass” order. The manager believed the man posed a threat to her bartender as well as some of the patrons.
12:13 pm Police received a report that DeWalt Tools were stolen from Pickerington High School Central on February 12.
10:07 pm Police were called to a home in Cherry Hill to remove two men who were standing in the driveway yelling at the homeowner. The officers allegedly recognized one of the men, a 34-year-old from Columbus, because of prior alcohol-related incidents including peeing in his neighbor’s yard a few days earlier.
10:52 pm A Buick LaCrosse ran out gas in the traffic circle on Refugee Road in front of the police department. The driver, a 28-year-old Columbus woman, gave police permission to push the car into their parking lot. As the officers did so, they were informed that the woman’s license was suspended and that she was wanted on a warrant from Reynoldsburg.
The woman was placed under arrest, so she called her sister to pick up her children. However, her sister’s license was also suspended, therefore a third person was called to take everyone home.
February 24
1:10 am Officers at Circle K observed a Nissan Frontier allegedly run the flashing red light on Columbus Street as it crossed Hill Road. The police chased the vehicle as it reached speeds more than 70 mph until it pulled onto the lawn just past Diley Road.
The driver, a 27-year-old Baltimore man, had a bloody nose and his elbows were bruised and scraped. Violet Township medics responded but the man refused treatment.
As the officers arrested him for driving under the influence, he allegedly told them that he was glad that he was “buzzed right now”. He then threatened to “knock out” the officers if he sees them on the street. At the Fairfield County Jail, he threatened to “knock out” the deputies as well.
9:07 pm A 26-year-old woman from Alexandria was allegedly caught shoplifting from Kohl’s.
