A quiet stretch of Worthington Hills turned chaotic when someone reportedly fired a gun from a moving car speeding through the neighborhood, ending in a crash that left the driver hospitalized. Perry Township police are still trying to determine why it happened at all.
According to WSYX, Perry Township police are investigating reports that someone fired a gun while driving through the neighborhood before the car was found crashed in a condominium complex near Highview Drive and State Route 315. A neighbor told the station they heard several gunshots and called 911, prompting officers to surround the Worthington Hills neighborhood as they searched for the source of the gunfire.
The station reports the injured driver remained inside the vehicle after the crash, and police later found a weapon inside the car. Sgt. Eric Delbert, who briefed reporters on the incident, said there were shots fired and reports of a car speeding through the neighborhood, and confirmed that nothing was hit — no homes, no people, and no other vehicles appeared to be involved in the gunfire.
No Known Connection to the Neighborhood
Delbert said investigators found no ties between the driver and Worthington Hills, and that the incident appeared random, per the same account relayed by the station. That leaves a central question unanswered for now: why the gunfire happened in this neighborhood at all. Perry Township is identified in demographic and geographic material, according to Grokipedia.
The crash site sits near Highview Drive and State Route 315. Investigators are still determining whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash, and gun-related charges could be filed against the driver in the coming days, the station's report noted.
What Charges the Driver Could Face
Ohio law offers several avenues for prosecutors depending on what investigators ultimately conclude. Firing a firearm from a motor vehicle is a fourth-degree felony under Ohio Revised Code § 2923.16(A), carrying a potential sentence of up to 18 months in prison, according to the Joslyn Law Firm. Separately, discharging a firearm upon or over a public road can escalate from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony punishable by up to three years in prison if it creates a substantial risk of physical harm, under Ohio Revised Code § 2923.162(A)(3), the same firm notes in a separate analysis.
If toxicology testing shows the driver was impaired, transporting or possessing a loaded gun in a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs would elevate the offense to a fifth-degree felony under the same statute, punishable by up to 12 months in prison, the Joslyn Law Firm's analysis explains. Ohio's 2022 permitless carry law lets qualifying adults 21 and older carry concealed handguns without a permit, but it does not shield drivers from prosecution for firing a weapon from a vehicle or handling a gun while impaired, according to Zukerman Law.
Police Lean on Neighbors for Doorbell Footage
Perry Township police asked neighbors with doorbell camera video to contact investigators as they continue piecing together what happened before the crash. The request came as police continued investigating the incident.
Sgt. Delbert, who briefed reporters on the incident, is a Perry Township police sergeant. Hoodline previously covered his work during a lighter incident involving a squirrel at an Ohio State game. The department is led by Chief Kenneth S. “Steve” Cesaro, promoted to the role in March 2021 after more than two decades on the force, according to the Perry Township Police Department.
This is not the department's only major case this year — Hoodline previously reported on a search warrant investigation on Oakbourne Drive that ended with a woman found dead. And roadway gunfire itself has not been isolated to Worthington Hills this year. In August, a moving vehicle fired shots into two cars along I-71 South near Grove City, an incident Hoodline also covered, with no injuries reported in that case. For now, the driver in the Worthington Hills crash remains hospitalized, and Perry Township police continue investigating both the reported gunfire and the suspected gunman behind it.
