Saturday, August 21, 1999

Robbery suspect shot dead by police

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Armed man fired shots inside bank

BY DAN KLEPAL, TOM McCANN,
EARNEST WINSTON and MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A suspected bank robber lies dead at a University of Cincinnati construction site Friday after being shot by Cincinnati police officers. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        Four Cincinnati police officers opened fire on a bank robbery suspect Friday, killing him after a short car chase that ended at a University of Cincinnati construction site.

        The robber went into the Fifth Third Bank, 30 W. Corry Street, about 3 p.m. and handed the assistant manager a note threatening to take hostages and kill the people inside.

        He fired one shot at a teller but no one there was hurt.

        The man, whose name was not released late Friday because relatives had not been notified, took off with a packet of money in a gray Chevrolet Celebrity. Police gave chase. At least three Cincinnati police cruisers and a UC patrol car joined in.

        Five blocks later, the man drove through open gates of a construction site, scattering workers. He led police on a winding course around several 15-foot-tall dirt mounds inside the site, off Martin Luther King Drive.

        The construction area, about the size of a football field, is separated from UC's Morgens, Scioto and Sawyer residence halls by a chain-link fence.

        Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher said the car was trapped between patrol cars and piles of dirt. The man jumped out and officers confronted him.

        Officers ordered the man to drop his gun and show his hands. Police said he got out of his car but wouldn't follow the orders. Officers opened fire.

        Kitty Choi, a junior in special education at the University of Cincinnati, heard the loud sirens of the police cars as they entered the construction site, and watched the scene unfold from her apartment window.

        “Everyone came to a stop, the police jumped out, the robber jumped out, they fired, and that man just fell to the ground instantly,” Ms. Choi said.

        She said the man had a gun in his hand, but she didn't know if he pointed his gun at the officers or how far he got from the car.

        “The time was so short. It just happened, and I saw it in a blur,” she said.

        “There were directions given and he was armed when he left the car,” said Lt. Ray Ruberg, police spokesman.

        It was not clear whether he pointed his gun at police, Chief Streicher said.

        Police recovered the dead man's gun and investigators said his body landed about 6 feet from the car.

        “This was a dangerous situation,” Chief Streicher said. “You had a suspect that already had fired shots inside the bank.”

        An autopsy will be performed today. The Hamilton County Coroner's Office could not say Friday how many times the man was shot or where he was hit.

        James Smith, 53, was sitting on a bench between Morgens and Scioto halls when he heard police sirens, and then shots. He ran to the fence and saw officers with their guns drawn, crouching down to use their car doors as shields.

        “It sounded like it may have been 10 or 12 shots,” said Mr. Smith, whose wife is a UC student. “They went off like a pack of firecrackers.”

        The four officers who fired at the man — Sgt. Randy Webb, Police Specialist Jason Drach, Officers Adrian Gibson and Officer Rachel Folk — were taken to the police Criminal Investigation Section to be interviewed. Sgt. Webb joined the force in 1988; Specialist Drach in 1994, Officer Gibson in 1993 and Officer Folk in 1998.

        Five groups will conduct routine investigations into the shooting: The police division's homicide and internal investigations units, the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office, the city's independent Office of Municipal In vestigations (OMI), and the Citizen's Police Advisory Commission. The police department's inspections section will oversee the police investigations. The section was made a separate unit in May along with its own captain to critique police procedures.

        Meanwhile, the four officers are on paid administrative leave for five days, as well as two days off, pending a police psychological investigation.

        A UC police lieutenant also was at the scene and witnessed the shooting.

        Late Friday, Fraternal Order of Police President Keith Fangman said he was glad that no officers or other citizens were injured.

        “These officers should be commended for their bravery in a terrifying and dangerous situation,” he said.

        Fifth Third spokeswoman Stacie Yee said it was unclear Friday how much money the robber had taken from the bank. She did say, though, that witnesses saw dye packs explode as the man ran outside.

        It also was unclear how many people were inside the bank during the robbery. But Ms. Yee said there normally would be between five and six employees working on a Friday afternoon.

        The last robbery at this branch of Fifth Third was Sept. 28, 1993, she said.

Five fatal police shootings in two years

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