March 24
2:37 am Police pulled over a Toyota Camry near State Route 204 and Hill Road after it made an illegal turn. The 44-year-old driver allegedly told police that he had drank two Heinekens at Twins Tavern. Officers found a nearly empty bottle of Bird Dog Whiskey in a paper bag on the floor in front of the driver’s seat. Records showed that the driver had been charged six times with operating a vehicle while intoxicated since 2001.
4:15 am A 26-year-old man allegedly became aggravated when the Speedway door would not open. He pulled the door harder and harder, but it still would not budge. When the clerk unlocked it, the door hit the man in the chest which made him angry. He loudly berated the clerk until the police arrived to remove him.
3:33 pm A 38-year-old Pickerington woman forgot that she had set her phone on her car hood, and she drove away. She guessed that it fell off somewhere near Diley and Long Roads. When she called her phone, a man and a woman answered. They agreed to return the phone if the woman told them the PIN number.
The woman refused and asked the Pickerington Police for help. An officer called the couple and told them that if they returned the phone they would not be charged with a crime. They said, “no.”
9:37 pm Police allegedly pulled over a Hyundai Elantra on Diley Road for having one headlight. The officer recognized the 28-year-old driver because he had just pulled him over a few weeks earlier for the same offense. The man did not have a valid driver’s license either time.
March 25
2:05 pm An officer drove a 23-year-old man from the Fairfield County Jail to the Pickerington Mayor’s court then delivered to him to Franklin County on a warrant.
8:39 pm A 19-year-old allegedly told police that when the traffic light turned yellow, she turned left from Hill Road onto Birchwood Street and her Honda Accord was hit by a Toyota Camry. The Camry was driving straight on Hill Road but did not stop. She and her parents became angry when the officer cited her for making a turn without ensuring that the intersection was clear.
The driver of the Camry was allegedly very emotional and smelled of alcohol. He told officers that he attended a court hearing that morning which “had not gone well”, so he decided to stop by Zapatas for a couple margaritas. He was on his way home when the collision occurred.
March 26
10:21 am A 51-year-old Pickerington man told police someone had filed income tax returns in his name.
2:21 pm After losing his job at KFC, a 28-year-old man allegedly began harassing his former manager over text. The manager said that he also caused disruptive scenes at the restaurant. She asked that the police issue the man a “No Trespass” order.
March 28
1:22 am The Ohio Highway Patrol reported that a trooper and a Muskingum County Sheriff’s deputy were in pursuit of a white Chevrolet Malibu driving westbound on Interstate 70 at approximately 125 mph and passing vehicles on the berm. The Highway Patrol asked that the Pickerington Police deploy stop strips.
A Pickerington officer readied the strips in the interstate’s median just past the Hill Road interchange. When the suspect’s car approached, the officer pulled the cord to draw the strips across the road.
To avoid the strips, the driver allegedly veered into the median, but the strips clipped the Malibu’s right tires. This caused the car to spin clockwise across all traffic lanes and into the grass. It struck multiple trees before coming to a stop.
The officer pulled the strips off the road then joined the trooper and the deputy who were trying to administer first aid to the unconscious driver. The man’s legs were pinned by the dashboard and attempts to pry him free were unsuccessful.
When Violet Township Fire Department arrived, they extricated the 33-year-old man, but were unable to save him.
2:23 am A 29-year-old man allegedly drove his Nissan Versa into a utility pole just west of the Longview Highlands neighborhood. He initially told police that he had been texting, but after struggling through a field sobriety test, he admitted that he may have drunk “a decent bit” of alcohol. When, asked to quantify “a decent bit” he answered, “too much, put it that way.”
March 28
8:25 am Two vehicles parked along Raab Street were hit by another vehicle which skipped the scene.
11:01 am A 37-year-old man allegedly tried to enter his uncle’s home on Willard Drive without permission. Officers found him slicing through a window screen with a knife.
3:48 pm Police attempted to pull over a Chrysler 200 on Diley Road southbound near Cherry Hill because it allegedly had no taillights, but the Chrysler kept driving. The car began to pull over near George’s Creek, but then kept driving. At Long Road, the car came to a complete stop, but once the officer turned off his siren, the Chrysler kept driving. The officer resumed the siren. Near Avalon Drive, the car slowed almost to a stop, but then kept driving. Eventually, the car pulled over and remained stopped near Fox Glen West.
The 23-year-old driver allegedly told the officer that she “did not know you were the police. I just thought you were someone flashing their lights at me”.
The woman did not have a valid driver’s license – only a learner’s permit.
March 30
3:31 pm At the four-way stop signs on Windmiller Drive, a Ford Escape ran into the back of a Toyota Camry that had stopped in front of him. The Ford’s driver, a 46-year-old Pataskala man, had a suspended license and fictitious plates.
5:47 pm A 50-year-old man driving a Ford Taurus allegedly brake-checked a Honda Civic that was tailgating him on Center Street heading into the village. The 36-year-old Honda driver did not stop in time and his vehicle sustained “considerable damage to the front end.” The Honda driver fled the scene and was later charged with a Hit-Skip.
8:21 pm Someone allegedly hacked into the email account of a 19-year-old man and threatened to share naked photos of the man with all his cell phone contacts unless he sent them $1,240 in Bitcoin.
10:21 pm An unknown man allegedly punched a 28-year-old Marco’s Pizza employee in the eye after she asked him to leave the restaurant. He had accused her of not washing her hands before assembling his order.
She said that she had washed her hands, but she washed them again while another employee prepared the man’s food. The customer continued to insult the woman, so she demanded that he leave.
March 31
2:38 am A 31-year-old woman was pulled over on southbound Diley Road near Busey for expired tags and a suspended driver’s license. She reportedly told police that an officer had stopped her on a prior occasion and issued her a warning. She took a job as a Door Dasher to pay for new license plates.
11:48 am Police pulled over a Nissan Maxima near Leasure Drive for driving 65 mph in a 35 mph on Long Road. The driver, a 43-year-old Columbus woman without a license, told police that her sandal got stuck under the accelerator.
April 1
12:54 pm Kohl’s management discovered that an associate had allegedly stolen from the store on March 3.
5:37 pm Four teenage boys allegedly grabbed handfuls of fruit drinks and gummy candies from Speedway then dashed from the store. The manager watched them drive off in a two-door Chrysler with a vanity license plate. Police pulled the boys over on Hill Road right before Diley and ordered them to wait on the curb until their mothers arrived.
6:15 pm Kohl’s loss prevention officer reported a man stealing merchandise. When officers arrived on scene, the man ran to the rear of the store then exited through the emergency doors. He was seen running towards the condos behind the store (Fairfield Square).
Security cameras had shown that the man had been dropped off at the store in a maroon Nissan Maxima, so the police waited outside the entrance to the community and when that same vehicle exited the neighborhood a few minutes later, they pulled it over.
Through the back window of the Maxima, an officer allegedly saw an arm sticking out from a pile of trash bags. He opened the door and told the man to exit the vehicle.
The man gave police a fake name. The loss prevention officer shared his photo with other loss prevention officers from around Columbus and together they identified the suspect as a 32-year-old Columbus man. He was wanted on multiple warrants out of Fairfield County, City of Dublin and Licking County.
The driver was wanted on a warrant from the Columbus Police Department. While the Pickerington dispatcher awaited relay information, the driver showed the officers a festering wound on his right leg. When the Columbus Police were notified of the injury, they said they no longer wanted to take the driver into custody. The man refused the Violet Township medic’s offer to transport him for treatment.
April 2
8:49 pm A man wearing a ski mask entered Next Level Fitness. When asked to check in, he told the attendant he would do so after he changed clothes, then he headed to the locker room. A gym patron saw the man enter the locker room then exit a short time later. Suspicious of the masked man’s intentions, the gym member entered the locker room and discovered that his keys had been taken.
He chased the masked man into the parking lot, where the man activated the button on the keys that activated the vehicle’s lights. The alleged thief then climbed into the passenger seat of a gray Acura SUV driven by a woman, and they left the lot.
9:57 am Police were notified that 528.1 gallons of fuel had allegedly been stolen from an address in Longview Highlands.
4:31 pm A 14-year-old boy was removed from the main branch of the Pickerington Public Library after he ignored the staff’s repeated requests that he leave. The library had previously placed a “No Trespass” order on the boy for allegedly fighting, causing a disturbance and cursing at staff.
April 4
2:29 am A 24-year-old man called the police to report that someone at Twins Tavern stole his keys. Surveillance footage revealed that he had put the keys in his pocket.
7:09 am A woman called police to report a suspicious person at her home. Officers discovered that the intruder was actually a 16-year-old male friend of the woman’s 16-year-old daughter. The woman asked the police to issue a “No Trespass” order to the boy.
8:48 am Two 16-year-old boys were allegedly caught on camera stealing bicycles from a garage in the Cherry Hill neighborhood.
10:43 am A 70-year-old man told police someone had broken into his unit at Public Storage and taken items.
2:37 pm A 44-year-old man allegedly physically attacked an employee at Brake Discount Centers.
April 5
7:09 pm An officer pulled over an Acura MDX at the intersection of Diley and Hill Roads for tags that expired on April 25, 2020. The 37-year-old driver explained that COVID had complicated renewing her license plate. Dispatch reported that the tags belonged to a Buick Enclave and that the woman was wanted on a warrant from the Pickerington Mayor’s Court.
10:52 pm A Toyota Yaris was allegedly clocked driving 53 mph in the 35 mph stretch of Long Road between Columbus Street and Diley Road. The 23-year-old male driver had a temporary driving permit.
April 6
2:30 am An officer driving northbound on Diley Road noticed a southbound Acura ILX did not dim its high beams for oncoming traffic. He followed the vehicle and discovered it had an expired temp tag. The driver, a 41-year-old Baltimore woman, was wanted on a warrant from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
7:47 am Tractor Supply Company reported that overnight someone stole a mini dirt bike valued at $649.99. The cable that secured the bike to the front of the store had been cut.
1:37 pm Someone using an address at the Pickerington Ridge Apartment Complex, allegedly ordered items using a PayPal account belonging to a man in Indiana. The victim drove to the Pickerington Police Department asking that officers confront whoever lived in the apartment where the packages had been delivered.
4:20 pm A Chevrolet Blazer, trying to turn right onto Tussing Road from Hill, was allegedly rearended by an unidentified silver sedan which fled the scene.
5:11 pm A silver Mercury vehicle (model not reported) allegedly rear ended a Lincoln Navigator on Hill Road near Birchwood Street, then skipped the scene.
10:48 pm A 72-year-old man was pulled over on Hill Road near Tussing for allegedly driving without insurance, registration or a valid driver’s license.
April 7
8:14 pm Radar clocked a Honda Accord driving 70 mph on Long Road west of Diley where the limit is 35 mph. An officer pulled the vehicle over near George’s Creek Drive. The 17-year-old driver did not have a license.
10:31 pm Police responded to reports of a damaged Cadillac on Diley Road near Cherry Hill Drive. The 45-year-old driver allegedly told the officers that her vehicle had a flat tire, but upon closer inspection, police deduced that the sidewall of the tire had torn after hitting a curb.
She allegedly told officers that she had drunk two glasses of wine at Classics. She refused to take a breathalyzer test.
Her 20-year-old son arrived on the scene in a Chevrolet Impala which he had allegedly not insured, and he was driving without a license. Both vehicles were towed.
April 8
9:25 pm After staff from the City of Pickerington removed yard signs from his property which promoted his painting business, a 46-year-old man allegedly called City Hall and threatened to shoot the next person who tried to take a sign from his yard. Yard signs advertising businesses are against Pickerington code.
1:34 pm A Dodge Journey rearended a Honda Odyssey on Hill Road near Postage Drive. The 20-year-old driver of the Dodge fled the scene. He had been driving on a suspended license.
6:15 pm The loss prevention officer at Kohl’s asked for help after seeing a 36-year-old Reynoldsburg woman allegedly shoplifting. Cameras allegedly caught the woman placing jewelry and clothing items in her purse. She removed the tags from a pair of Adidas shoes, then put them on. Surveillance showed her shoving one of her original shoes down her shirt then hiding the other in her leggings.
Police were waiting for her as she allegedly left the store without paying. She tried to run, then fought the officers when they tried to handcuff her. She gave a false name and the police found two crack pipes in her purse. The merchandise had a total value of $343.99.
Officers also caught the 56-year-old driver of her presumed get-away car. The PT Cruiser was seen dropping the woman at the store and the driver tried to leave when the police arrived. He gave the police the woman’s real name.
His plate had expired, he had no valid driver’s license.
11:27 pm A 15-year-old girl told police that students from her school were threatening her online. They allegedly told her that they intended to kidnap her then take photos as they assaulted her.
April 9
6:11 am A man reported that his Chevy Malibu had been stolen from outside his Lake’s Edge Apartment. It was later discovered that the bank had repossessed the car.
11:54 pm An unknown vehicle hit a parked GMC Sierra in the Stonebridge neighborhood then skipped the scene.
April 10
3:15 pm A 39-year-old man said that someone in a black Nissan full of teens threw a drink at his Cadillac Escalade as he was traveling down Hill Road. He followed the Nissan, and the driver allegedly drew a gun on him. The suspect was a 17-year-old boy from Lancaster.
4:25 pm In gym class at Ridgeview STEM Junior High, a 13-year-old boy allegedly asked a classmate if she had seen his sex tape. Another classmate overheard the conversation and asked the boy if he had “f___d” another student. This angered the boy and he said, “I’m going to kill all y’all n_____s!”
The gym teacher reportedly called the assistant principal for assistance when he could not calm the boy. The teen allegedly pounded the gym door so hard that it flew open and hit the teacher in the face.
After being sent home, he allegedly posted threats to Instagram stating “on my dead father, tmr I’m bringing a gun to school and shooting that bitch up first ‘n____r” I see” and “finna buy a gun from someone and then shoot his way through the windows or something.”
The community reacted with numerous calls to the police station and 200 students did not attend class on Friday.
The boy was sent to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the school intended to press charges.
April 11
5:25 pm A 24-year-old woman told police that items worth a total of $3,000 were stolen from her unit at Public Storage.
10:03 pm A 16-year-old boy driving southbound on Hill Road just past Tussing told police that someone shot through the back window of his Subaru Impreza. The bullet traveled through the upholstery and landed on the passenger’s seat.
April 12
8:03 am Ryan Homes reported that items were stolen from homes under construction in the Graystone neighborhood, including a hot water tank, siding, lumber and a bathtub for a total loss of more than $5,000.
4:54 pm Two teenage boys were issued “No Trespass” orders after misbehaving in the Pickerington Public Library and refusing to leave.
April 13
3:08 am An officer pulled over a Hyundai Elantra near Longhorn Steakhouse on Hill Road for having an expired license plate. The 17-year-old driver did not have a license nor did any of his passengers. The vehicle had been reported stolen out of Canal Winchester, but the owner did not press charges because the alleged thieves were her nephews.
10:35 am Police clocked a Chrysler 300 traveling southbound on Lockville Road driving 44 mph in a 25-mph zone near Opportunity Way. The 32-year-old driver was wanted on a warrant out of Licking County.
11:23 am CVS asked that the police issue a “No Trespass” order for a 40-year-old Pickerington woman. She allegedly told the Minute Clinic worker to “go f__k yourself” after the worker refused to sign off on her daughter’s physical form for sports due to a possible medical condition.
April 15
2:10 am An officer on patrol near Postage Drive allegedly saw that a Mazda 6 heading southbound on Hill Road was having difficulty staying in its lane. The officer pulled over the vehicle near Taco Bell then asked the 21-year-old driver for his driver’s license and insurance. He told her that he did not have a license, but he did give her a letter from AT&T.
The man allegedly told the officer that he had five drinks at Fonteras (near Mount Carmel East) and was on his way home to the Winding Woods neighborhood (Columbus just east of Whitehall). During the field sobriety test, the man became extremely emotional and told the officer that he was afraid. The officer told him that he would not be harmed. She said that she believed he might be intoxicated, and the exercises were meant to see if he was impaired. The man insisted that he was okay to drive home. He struggled through the remaining exercises and was placed under arrest.
He began to vomit but refused medical attention and started to cry. He told the officer that his family no longer loved him because of his sexual orientation and that he wanted to die. He kept asking the officer if she was going to kill him.
3:36 pm A woman reported that her cell phone had been hacked and that an unknown person was threatening to send naked photos of her to her contacts if she did not deposit money into a cash app.
4:44 pm Domino’s Pizzeria called the police after they received an online order with the following message, “HELP SEND HELP PLEASE HE IS GOING TO SHOOT US CALL THE POLICE”. Units surrounded the address where the pizza was to be delivered in the Windmiller Ponds neighborhood, then contacted the woman who lived there.
The message was determined to be a “swatting call” targeted at the woman’s 22-year-old son. Police suspected that the message was sent from a person in Australia who had become upset with the son while playing an online game.
4:55 pm Kohl’s asked the police to stop a couple who had just left the store without paying for merchandise. Officers arrived after the two had climbed into a Buick and were preparing to leave.
The driver, a 19-year-old Groveport man, allegedly refused to exit the vehicle and the officers had to manually pull him out and place him in handcuffs. His passenger was a 16-year-old girl from Madison Township. Together they had allegedly stolen items including make-up, sheets and men’s underwear.
April 16
1:32 pm A woman in Longview Highlands called the police to have two 18-year-old women removed from her property who wanted to fight her daughter about a boy. The women (one from Columbus and the other from Whitehall) allegedly told the officers that the resident had given them permission to enter the property and beat her daughter.
9:35 pm An unknown person stole a fanny pack belonging to a young boy who had fallen asleep in the lobby of the Wendy’s (by Interstate 70) while waiting for his mom to get off work. The pack held an iPhone and AirPods Pros.
April 17
2:37 am A Toyota Highlander was pulled over near the PASA/PYAA complex for a missing headlight and a missing plate light. After noticing the smell of marijuana, the officer asked the 22-year-old driver to perform a field sobriety test. The man allegedly said that he had come from Roosters where he drank three Ace Beers. He blew a 0.08 BAC on the breathalyzer which is the legal limit in Ohio.
3:52 pm A 17-year-old Pickerington boy called police because his phone alerted him that an unknown wireless signal was pinging off his Honda Pilot. Upon searching the vehicle, he discovered an Air Tag duct taped to his chassis.
Upon investigation, police discovered that the Air Tag belonged to a 17-year-old Canal Winchester girl from a rival senior tag team at Pickerington High School Central.
April 18
12:35 pm Police received a report that a 47-year-old Cincinnati woman had been allegedly stealing funds for the past four months from a food stamps card belonging to a Pickerington resident.
6:18 pm An unknown man stole two cartons of cigarettes from Speedway.
6:24 pm A 36-year-old pedestrian suffered injuries after he was hit by a vehicle in the parking lot of Genji Go. The vehicle fled the scene.
9:49 pm An officer conducted a traffic stop near Opportunity Way after clocking a Volvo C-40 driving 47 mph in a 25-mph zone. The driver, a 17-year-old Lancaster boy, allegedly said that he thought the speed limit was 55 and that although his license had been suspended, he had permission to drive to Bible study.
April 19
3:44 pm Police issued a “No Trespass” order to a 28-year-old Thornville man who was allegedly yelling at staff and throwing equipment at Next Level Fitness.
3:58 pm A 36-year-old Lancaster woman was allegedly caught on camera stealing leggings, a purse, a wallet and an unknown amount of makeup from Kohl’s.
6:07 pm A black SUV hit a Honda CRV near Hill Road and Diley then skipped the scene.
8:05 pm A 14-year-old boy driving his father’s Honda Civic, missed a turn in the George’s Creek neighborhood and drove into a yard. Officers arrived as he tried to steer back onto the road.
10:46 pm A man with a suspended license was pulled over after making an improper left turn from the Marcus Cinema parking lot.
April 20
12:22 am A man with a suspended license was pulled over on Refugee Road near Grace Fellowship Church because the Dodge Avenger that he was driving had no license plate.
3:51 pm A resident from Windmiller Ponds reported that a man wearing a ski mask was threatening to break through her front door with an axe. Several people were with him, but they left before officers arrived. Police caught up with their vehicles and found the axe.
Another neighbor in Windmiller told police that the suspects had visited her home earlier that day threatening to “do in” her grandson.
