The Ohio State Highway Patrol has a third suspect in custody following a multi-county incident this morning in which a Bluffton Police Department officer was killed.
The incident began at approximately 2 a.m. when troopers from the Marion Patrol Post observed a dark-colored sedan traveling at a high rate of speed on Ohio 23 northbound, but were unable to make contact with the vehicle.
A Findlay Post trooper then identified the vehicle as a black Infiniti sedan at approximately 2:20 a.m. on Ohio 15 in Hancock County. The suspect vehicle continued to flee on Route 15 and then onto Interstate 75 southbound.
At 2:30 a.m., on I-75, near exit 142, Officer Dominic Francis, 42, Bluffton Police Department, was attempting to deploy stop sticks and was struck by the fleeing vehicle. Francis subsequently succumbed to his injuries from the crash.
Three suspects fled on foot east from the Infiniti sedan. At approximately 3 a.m., a gray 2010 Toyota Prius was stolen from a residence on County Road 29 in Hancock County. One of the suspects was taken into custody in the neighboring proximity of the residence from where the Prius was stolen.
The Toyota Prius was then located by a trooper from the Medina Post on Interstate 71 near milepost 208 in Medina County. The vehicle continued to flee on westbound Ohio 82.
One suspect was ultimately taken into custody from the Prius at approximately 8:15 a.m. after a traffic stop at Ohio 57 and Chestnut Ridge Road in the city of Elyria. The third suspect was arrested at 12:49 p.m.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported the suspects are: Emin Johnson, 20, incarcerated at the Hancock County Justice Center; Zachary Love, 21, incarcerated at the Hancock County Justice Center; Dante Tate, 19, incarcerated at the Medina County Jail.
