VIDEO: Underwear-Clad Suspect Sparks 16-Mile Chase From Dublin to South Linden

A Columbus police attempt to serve a felony arrest warrant at a home in the 2000 block of Stowbridge Road turned chaotic Friday when the suspect ran off wearing only underwear, setting off a pursuit that stretched roughly 16 miles across the city before ending with an arrest in South Linden. Officers took the suspect into custody in the 1000 block of Olmstead Avenue, and a homeowner near the original scene was treated by paramedics on the front porch.

According to WSYX, the incident began when police attempted to arrest someone on a felony warrant at the Stowbridge Road address, located in the suburban Olde Sawmill neighborhood straddling Northwest Columbus and Dublin. The area sits in ZIP code 43016, where median home prices exceed $480,000, according to Zillow listing data. The suspect fled the home and ran through the neighborhood in his underwear before the situation escalated further.

A shooting call separately brought officers to a home on Selbourne Court, where a suspect fled the area, the station's report states. Police investigated a potential confrontation between the suspect and the homeowner there, and paramedics treated the homeowner on the front porch. Columbus police responded to that shooting call in the same neighborhood, though officials have not clarified how directly the Selbourne Court incident and the warrant service connect.

A Cross-City Pursuit Ends in South Linden

The chaos ultimately spanned roughly 16 miles across Columbus before the suspect was apprehended in the 1000 block of Olmstead Avenue near South Linden, per the same account. Columbus police described the apprehension as a brief pursuit and confirmed no shots were fired by officers during the encounter. Crime tape surrounded a GMC pickup truck near the custody location as detectives worked the scene.

Investigators are now looking into whether that GMC pickup was stolen from the Northwest Side neighborhood where the warrant attempt began, the report notes. Under Ohio Revised Code § 2913.02, taking a motor vehicle without an owner's consent is grand theft of a motor vehicle, an automatic fourth-degree felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison regardless of the vehicle's value, according to the McNamee Law Firm. If the pursuit itself involved the suspect fleeing officers after a stop signal, Ohio Revised Code § 2921.331 can elevate that charge to a third-degree felony carrying 9 to 36 months in prison when the driving creates a substantial risk of serious harm, per the Law Office of Pat Farrell.

South Linden Block Carries a Heavy History

The Olmstead Avenue block where the suspect was ultimately caught sits in South Linden, a neighborhood where DoorProfit crime data puts overall crime rates 64% above the national average and assault rates 58% above the norm. That same block was the site of a high-profile 2024 homicide investigation into the death of 8-year-old Martonio Wilder, which resulted in life prison sentences for two women, according to reporting archived by Tara Jabour.

The homeowner from Selbourne Court was questioned by detectives following the confrontation there, though authorities have not disclosed the homeowner's current condition beyond the on-scene treatment by paramedics. Columbus police have provided no further details about the underlying felony warrant that triggered the encounter, leaving open questions about exactly what charge investigators were originally trying to serve.

Department Protocols Likely Shaped the Response

Any body-worn camera footage from the warrant attempt would fall under Columbus City Code Chapter 1914, which requires officers to activate their cameras no later than when exiting vehicles or approaching individuals during enforcement actions, per city ordinance records. Columbus Division of Police Directive 2.01 also caps active vehicular pursuits at three marked units unless a supervisor authorizes more, while mandating real-time supervisor oversight throughout, according to policy documentation published by the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Central Ohio agencies have also increasingly relied on police helicopters and thermal-imaging drones to track fleeing vehicles from above, letting ground units avoid aggressive tactical driving while keeping suspects in view, as reported by Axios.

The case adds to a string of recent pursuit-related incidents across Columbus, including a similar multi-suspect chase that ended in a crash last August, covered previously by Hoodline. It also follows an eight-mile I-71 pursuit involving a wanted felon earlier this month. Even so, Columbus police crime data from late 2025 showed a 14.5% overall decrease in Part 1 serious crimes citywide year-over-year, including notable drops in motor vehicle thefts and burglaries, according to Police1.

Columbus police have not released the suspect's identity or the specific charges filed as of Friday evening, and have provided no further details on the investigation. Detectives continue examining whether the GMC pickup was tied to a theft from the Northwest Side, while the underlying warrant and the full circumstances connecting the Selbourne Court shooting call to the Stowbridge Road arrest attempt remain unresolved.