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Wanted fugitive who prompted manhunt arrested by US Marshals in West Virginia

Wanted fugitive fires shots at officers
Posted at 5:52 AM, Dec 05, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-05 19:45:17-05

A fugitive who fired shots at officers Tuesday morning, prompting an hours-long manhunt throughout Ohio has been arrested by the US Marshals.

James "Bubba" Schmidt, 33, was caught in Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia by the US Marshals after he was seen leaving a pawn shop. He was arrested after a short foot chase.

Authorities say he was found in a stolen car. 

The manhunt started after a police officer spotted Schmidt, who was wanted for multiple felony warrants, around 1:30 a.m. at a Walmart on Burbank Road in Wooster.

When officers attempted to stop Schmidt, he took off with a woman—leading officers on a high-speed chase through Wayne County.

The Wayne County Sheriff said Schmidt fired shots at two Wooster police cruisers as officers followed him.

One of the shots struck the engine of a police cruiser, forcing it to drop out of the chase.

Schmidt continued to fire at officers, hitting another police cruiser, before losing control of the vehicle in a field near McQuaid and Church roads in Orville.

An officer from the Wooster Police Department returned fire but Schmidt managed to escape.

He fled on foot for at least a quarter mile before reaching a home where he broke in and stole car keys belonging to a 2006 Gray GMC Envoy from a garage.

Schmidt was spotted at Walmart in Coshocton around 4:40 a.m., but fled the area before deputies arrived.

The SUV he was driving was later found burned in Guernsey County, according to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.

He was arrested in West Virginia around 5 p.m. Wooster police say a woman was with him at the time.

There were no officers or citizens injured in the pursuits.