A trio of individuals is in custody after allegedly stealing hundreds of dollars’ worth of tools, then leading law enforcement officials on a high-speed chase into Dublin.
According to police reports Joseph Lee Jones, 42; Dawn M. McCullough, 48; and Eddie Clifford Bevins, 38, all of Columbus, were arrested Friday evening in Dublin.
Capt. Nate Sachs of the Marysville Division of Police said that at 6:02 p.m., Friday, employees from McAuliffe’s Ace hardware store, 1299 W. Fifth Street, called police to report a theft. The employees said a man and a woman, later identified as Jones and McCullough had walked out the door with hundreds of dollars’ worth of tools. The callers said the alleged thieves walked to a nearby restaurant and got into a Nissan Rogue that had a driver already waiting. The Rogue got onto U.S. 33 headed east.
“We were able to locate the vehicle on U.S. 33,” Sachs said. “A brief vehicle pursuit ensued.”
Sachs said the chase reached speeds of 100 miles per hour.
“That’s when we ended the pursuit out of an abundance of caution,” Sachs said.
He said officials had the vehicle license plate and description but did not know what had been stolen. He said it is department policy that if officers have that information but believe the chase could endanger the public, it can be called off.
Sachs said the vehicle information was given to nearby law enforcement agencies. Deputies from the Union County Sheriff’s Office located the Rogue on U.S. 33 near Beecher Gamble Road.
According to court documents, the driver “refused to stop.”
“A pursuit was initiated, and the vehicle eventually stopped in a parking lot in the 6800 block of Bobcat Way in Dublin,” according to court documents.
Officers from the Plain City and Dublin police departments assisted with the pursuit.
“One of the suspects fled on foot but was eventually captured,” according to a statement from the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
As a result of the investigation, Jones and McCullough were charged with theft and Bevins was charged with complicity and failure to comply with the order of a police officer. Jones was released to the custody of a Marysville Police officer. Bevins and McLaughlin were transported to the Tri-County Regional Jail and two reports were taken.