Pickerington Police Reports August 24–30, 2026

August 24

7:05 a.m. A suspect cut the lock off a work truck parked at the Country Inn and stole a generator from inside.

6:08 p.m. A white truck with toolbox-style bed sides sideswiped a gray Chevrolet Equinox that was stopped on southbound Hill Road at the Tussing Road traffic light. The truck, which may have had a Texas license plate, fled the scene.

6:26 p.m. Police responded to a report that a man wearing a hood and mask had just left Subway while brandishing a gun. An officer spotted the suspect walking from the restaurant and asked him twice to stop and talk. Both times, the man reportedly responded, “Nah. I’m good.” He then allegedly took off, hopping fences and running through Village backyards.

Patrons at Combustion Brewery & Taproom told police they saw the suspect race past with a gun, but when officers caught up with the man near the Pickerington-Violet Township Historical Museum, they found no firearm. They also did not find the crossbody bag witnesses said he had been wearing inside Subway.

What they did find on him included scissors, gloves and credit cards belonging to multiple individuals. He allegedly provided a false name and told officers that he lived with his grandmother in Dayton and that she had dropped him off in Pickerington to meet a friend. He could not recall the friend’s last name, and the address he provided in Dayton did not exist.

With insufficient information to charge the man with trespassing, officers released him. Facial recognition later identified him as a 23-year-old Florida man wanted on a warrant. However, the distance exceeded the range of extradition.

August 25

1:45 a.m. Video surveillance allegedly captured a 35-year-old employee adding funds to gift cards without receiving payment for the cards.

5:09 p.m. A teenager from Washington Court House allegedly threatened to kill a 14-year-old Pickerington girl.

August 26

12:57 a.m. Someone broke the window of a work van parked at the Lakes Edge Apartments and stole tools.

9:06 a.m. Flock cameras notified police of a stolen Mercedes-Benz S-Class traveling southbound on Hill Road. Police stopped the car near Stonecreek Drive North. The driver, a 28-year-old woman with a suspended license, told police that the vehicle belonged to her fiancé.

10:19 a.m. A 37-year-old Pickerington woman commented on an Instagram post from WBNS Channel 10, prompting replies from a 33-year-old man who identified himself as a Columbus police officer.

After others commented on the crassness of the man’s replies, he reportedly began privately messaging the woman with threats that he knew where she lived and that he would assault her. He said that if she reported him, she herself would be sent to prison.

Although his Instagram account did not list his identity, he posted that he had placed first in a recent 5K. The woman found his name listed on the race’s social media and called Columbus police, who told her that the suspect was not a member of their department. After further digging, she discovered the man’s Facebook profile, where he listed his employer as Taco Bell.

12:22 p.m. A 79-year-old woman told police that she thought she had shifted her Honda CR-V into park and was surprised when the vehicle accelerated over a grassy median at OhioHealth Pickerington Methodist Hospital. She shifted into reverse, intending to return to the parking spot, when a man approached, flailing his arms and yelling, “Stop!”

She told officers that she was unaware at the time that her right front bumper had struck a pedestrian. Witnesses said the vehicle swiped the leg of the woman, who was also 79 years old, causing her to spin around and topple backward. The victim told police that she was not injured.

1:08 p.m. A woman told police that she had received a voicemail from Spectrum promising to lower her rate, so she called back and spoke with someone who identified himself as “Rules.” Rules told her that to receive the savings, she would need to be entered as a new customer because new customers always get the best rates.

To set up the new account, he required her four-digit Spectrum PIN. He then explained that a box would arrive in a few days and that he would send her a new label because she would need to ship the box to another address. Rules indicated that reshipping the package was standard procedure for establishing a new account.

After the call, the woman noticed that Spectrum had withdrawn $268.66 from her bank account. She called Rules, who assured her that the funds transfer was part of the procedure and that the money would be returned after the box had been shipped.

A few days later, the box arrived, and she shipped it to the address printed on the label that Rules had sent her. However, the money had still not been refunded to her bank account, so she tried to call Rules, but his number had been disconnected.

At that point, she called Spectrum’s customer service line and learned that nobody from the company had contacted her. In addition to the funds withdrawn from her bank account, the box delivered to her home, which she had reshipped, contained two iPhones valued at $1,666.68 each. The phones were registered to “Carol” and “Jason” and were charged to her account.

10:12 p.m. A Kroger staff member watched as an unknown woman scanned some, but not all, of the items she was bagging at the self-checkout. The employee approached the woman and asked if she needed assistance, but the woman refused. The suspect began to push the grocery cart toward the exit, but the employee insisted on reviewing the receipt. At that point, the woman grabbed items from the cart and walked out the front door.

August 28

7:16 p.m. Someone left a suitcase on the sidewalk near the intersection of Hill and Diley roads.

August 29

3:26 a.m. A 58-year-old man standing in front of Taco Bell with several suitcases waved down a police cruiser traveling southbound on Hill Road. When the officer asked if he needed assistance, the man reportedly responded, “I am sightseeing.” A background check revealed that the man was wanted on a warrant out of Lancaster.