Todd Schaffner, 56, was arrested along the 700 block of east Columbus Avenue in Bellefontaine Monday night following an extended pursuit with law enforcement through Union, Logan and Hardin counties. (Bellefontaine Examiner photo)
First of three pursuits began after theft, crash on Coleman’s Crossing
Speeds exceeded 130 mph during a multi-county police chase that began Monday evening at the Marysville Wal-Mart.
The pursuit was terminated and picked back up on multiple occasions before Todd Schaffner, 56, of Marysville was apprehended in Bellefontaine.
SCHAFFNER
The incident began when MPD was called to Wal-Mart on Coleman’s Crossing Blvd. in reference to a crime in progress. Along with the theft, Deputy Chief Tony Brooks said Schaffner also had outstanding warrants from Champaign County.
“It was more than just a simple theft as the reason for this pursuit,” he said.
Brooks said Schaffner “immediately fled the scene” in a red 2009 Honda Accord, striking another vehicle while leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Around 4:12 p.m. the first of several pursuits began with MPD following Schaffner from Coleman’s Crossing Blvd. to Industrial Parkway, south toward Dublin.
Brooks said the subject was traveling between 100 and 110 mph with “light traffic, if any” during this portion of the pursuit.
Marysville Police were able to identify the subject, Brooks said, in the area of Dublin Cosgray Road and Route 161. Officers chased Schaffner north on U.S. 42 from U.S. 33, toward Marysville.
MPD units disengaged and terminated their pursuit around 4:48 p.m. on U.S. 42. Brooks said at this time the Union County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio State Highway Patrol were involved in the pursuit.
A second pursuit led by MPD began around 6:13 p.m., Brooks explained, when the officer who initiated the earlier chase spotted Schaffner’s vehicle in the old Kroger parking lot on W. Fifth Street.
The officer advised other MPD units, but Brooks said “the subject must’ve seen her vehicle and immediately fled.”
He said Schaffner then traveled around Park Avenue, down W. Fifth Street onto Northwest Parkway.
Once Schaffner neared Honda Parkway, Brooks said MPD did not continue the pursuit but OSHP troopers pursued him into Logan County.
According to reports from the Bellefontaine Examiner, deputies from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office joined the pursuit around 6:15 p.m..
The Examiner indicated Schaffner reached speeds in excess of 130 mph on U.S. 33 before exiting north onto Route 117 and reaching the Hardin County line around 6:30 p.m.
The suspect evaded stop sticks deployed by troopers in the area of westbound State Route 292. Efforts to puncture the suspect’s tires by sheriff’s deputies in the area of U.S. 33 and County Road 57 was only partially successful, as the vehicle was still able to continue at a high rate of speed.
Logan County deputies disregarded the pursuit after the suspect crossed the county line.
An OSHP trooper that had been chasing the suspect from Union County ran out of gas along northbound Route 117 just south of the Route 273 interchange.
A OSHP patrol helicopter had begun an aerial search of the vehicle while local law enforcement had begun to return to service as sheriff’s deputies again spotted the vehicle — now traveling southbound on Route 117.
Troopers and LCSO deputies picked back up the pursuit as the suspect crossed the interchange at Route 117 and U.S. 33 and proceeded southbound on County Road 130 back towards Bellefontaine.
Bellefontaine police picked up the chase as the suspect crossed into the city limits, setting up stop sticks in the area of Troy Road and Garfield Avenue. The suspect’s tires were punctured, but he continued eastbound through city reaching speeds upwards of 70 mph.
A front tire came off the Schaffner’s vehicle and the car was disabled in the 700 block of east Columbus Avenue. Law enforcement arrested the suspect at that time.
Brooks said units from MPD then took Schaffer into custody and he was transferred to the Tri-County Regional Jail.
He was charged with theft, failure to comply with the order of a police officer, hitskip and two counts of felony fleeing and alluding.
Due to Gov. DeWine’s Stay at Home order, Brooks said traffic was minimal throughout each of the pursuits. No injuries were reported as a result of the pursuit.
“Without the shelter-in-place (order), it probably wouldn’t have continued as long as it did,” he said.