NEWS

Off-duty officer faces criminal charges

Spencer Remoquillo
Reporter

LANCASTER – Charges filed against an off-duty Columbus Division of Police officer allege he overstepped his boundaries in dealing with two men involved in what is described as a minor property dispute in court records.

Columbus police officer Andrew J. Hawkins, 33, turned himself Monday in after a warrant was issued for his arrest following the Nov. 15 incident in the 1300 block of Ety Road.

Hawkins is facing multiple charges as a result: aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor; two counts of unlawful restraint, a third-degree misdemeanor; two counts of menacing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor; and three counts of disorderly conduct, a minor misdemeanor. His trial is set for June 17.

The Lancaster Police Department received a 911 call from a witness, saying Hawkins, of Columbus, was holding two men at gunpoint Nov. 15.

“All I know is I pulled up and the officer was out of his car, pointing his gun at these two gentlemen and telling them that “Shut the (expletive) up and get out of the (expletive) car right now or I’ll blow you away,” the 911 caller said.

Yelling can be heard in the background of the 911 call.

“You guys better get here quick,” the 911 caller said. “This is a crazy situation out here.”

The incident started, according to police reports, when the two Fairfield County men, ages 19 and 20, had bumped their vehicle’s car door up against a neighboring vehicle around 11 a.m. at a business along Ety Road. A woman inside the vehicle next to them told them to be more careful and they left, according to police reports.

That’s when the woman called her husband, Hawkins, who was off-duty at the time, telling him what had happened and that she needed help with two teenagers causing problems, according to police reports.

The initial police report states that Hawkins believed his wife was in trouble and started driving to her when he saw the vehicle she had described and pulled in front of it, going to opposite direction, on Ety Road.

Hawkins got out of his personal vehicle and demanded the two men put their hands up, but they didn’t comply until after he showed his badge and ordered them once again to put their hands up, according to the report. When they both complied, Hawkins told Lancaster police officers he realized his wife was not in the car and waited for local officers to arrive. The report states Hawkins did not display a weapon during the incident.

The probable cause affidavit filed in the Fairfield County Municipal Court on March 20 is more detailed, saying Hawkins threatened the two men when he stopped them, yelling “you think you boys can just do a hit and run.” Later, the affidavit states that Hawkins threatened to shoot the men twice, saying “if you don’t keep your hands up, I’ll blow your (expletive) brains out.”

The 911 caller also told dispatchers he heard the Columbus police officer threatening to shoot them.

Hawkins admitted in a taped statement that he went left of center to stop the vehicle, but said he stopped them because his wife called and told him that they had opened their car door into hers and then threatened her.

There are no claims in the initial police report that the men had threatened the woman during the car door incident.

The Columbus Division of Police’s media relations office said Hawkins’ badge and gun were removed and he is on desk duty until the criminal case is resolved. The Eagle-Gazette attempted to reach Hawkins at the police department but was told there was no phone line where he is working to reach him.

sroush@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4342

Twitter: @SpencerRoushLEG