NEWS

Teen dragged by car during robbery

Chad Klimack
Reporter
  • A local teenager was dragged by a car during a robbery attempt at a local school
  • The incident, which occurred during non-school hours, originated from a shoe sale
  • Pataskala Police quickly arrested two of the three suspects
  • The victim was scrapped up, but he escaped serious injuries

PATASKALA – A local teenager suffered minor injuries after being dragged by a car during a robbery late Tuesday afternoon.

The incident occurred around 5 p.m. in the parking lot of Licking Heights Central Middle School, 6539 Summit Road.

A 14-year-old Pataskala resident had set up a shoe sale outside the school via the social networking service Instagram and the social messenger app Kik, Pataskala Police Deputy Chief Michael Boals said.

When the adult male buyer asked to see the shoes, a collectible pair of Nike tennis shoes valued at nearly $400, the sale went wrong, Boals said.

"As he's showing them the shoes, they basically (grabbed) the shoes from him and took off in their car as he's (still) hanging onto it," Boals said.

The teenager suffered minor injuries, including scrapes, from being dragged across the pavement, but he avoided serious injury, Boals said.

Two other people were with the buyer, and the trio quickly sped off after the teenager let go of their car.

The victim's older sister jumped in her car and attempted to follow the trio, but she lost them on Havens Corner Road in northwest Pataskala, Boals said.

Police ultimately tracked down the buyer Tuesday night.

"We found out a subject matching his description had previously been identified in a robbery of shoes at a school in Gahanna," Boals said. "He used the same M.O."

After consulting with Gahanna Police, Pataskala Police located and arrested the 19-year-old man, David J. Wilson, at his home in Gahanna. He confessed to the robbery, Boals said, and he also led police to his two accomplices.

Police arrested one of the accomplices, a 17-year-old boy, Tuesday night. A warrant has been issued for the other accomplice, a 16-year-old boy.

Wilson was charged Wednesday with robbery, a second-degree felony, in Licking County Common Pleas Court. His bond was set at $75,000 after a hearing Wednesday afternoon. The case could be reviewed by a grand jury for possible indictment and additional charges in the coming weeks.

The other suspects will initially be charged in Licking County Juvenile Court because of their age.

In the meantime, Boals said the trio could be charged with robbery, a second- or third-degree felony, instead of theft, a misdemeanor, for dragging the victim with the car.

"It would be robbery because they used the car as a weapon," said Boals, adding the victim was fortunate he escaped serious injury while being dragged by the car.

Aside from the previous theft of shoes in Gahanna, Boals said investigators also discovered the 19-year-old Columbus man allegedly stole a pair of shoes during a similar sale in Bexley.