WICKLIFFE, Ohio — A Wickliffe police officer has been placed on administrative leave per departmental policy after shooting a 37-year-old Brooklyn, Ohio woman who crashed into a pole and then fled from police after they arrived for a reported fight in the street.
According to Wickliffe Police Department, the initial encounter with police happened around 11:30 a.m. Friday in a parking lot in the 29000 block of Euclid Avenue.
Police responded to the location after they were notified about two people fighting near Euclid Avenue and Lloyd Road.
When officers arrived, they located a man and a woman. The 54-year-old Cleveland man was sitting inside a black sedan and the woman was standing outside the vehicle.
During the encounter, the woman ignored an officer’s commands and climbed into the driver’s seat of the car. That’s when authorities say an officer standing by the driver’s side door grabbed the woman and tried to pull her out of the vehicle while a second officer reached into the car from the passenger front window and tried to keep her from turning the car on.
Police say that the woman then put the car in reverse and backed into a pole. Next, she put the car in gear and started to drive off. The officer who was standing by the driver’s side door drew their weapon and fired three rounds, striking the woman at least once in the shoulder.
The woman fled from the scene and at some point, switched places in the car with the man. Police located the vehicle a short time later chased the car east on Euclid Avenue and north on East 345th Street to a factory where officers blocked the vehicle in when the car went into the grass.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to recover from her injuries, according to Wickliffe police.
Authorities said they will seek felony charges against the woman and man.
Per departmental policy, the incident has been turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for an independent review.
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