Box Truck Kidnapping Ends in Shots Fired

Reconstructed timeline

Times from synchronized camera clocks and dispatch records.

1. 9:00 AM

   Packs the truck at home

   First F-150 infotainment data point of the day places the truck at 9126 Blossom Road NE, the Subject's address; between 0900 and 1212 the truck moves between his residence and his mother's at 9082 Blossom Road NE. The prosecutor summary says he packed luggage into the F-150 at both addresses that…

2. 12:50 PM

   Stops at Knoxville Carry Out

   F-150 leaves Blossom Road at 1212, travels east, and stops at Knoxville Carry Out for about two minutes at 1250. Minute-level precision only.

3. 2:50 PM1:59

   Grandparents' silver SUV pulls in with the child

   A silver SUV drives up the gravel driveway, turns and stops in the middle of the yard. The grandmother and her husband had driven the child home from the school assembly.

4. 3:00 PM

   Hides in the woods near Sugar Grove Road

   F-150 reports a location in a wooded area near Sugar Grove Road at 1500. Minute-level precision only.

5. 4:22 PM3:58

   OSHP trooper finds the F-150 on a gravel drive

   The trooper follows the grey F-150 off the paved rural road onto a gravel path. derived_clock (36 @ 01:17).

6. 4:53 PM

   Abandons the F-150 at a feed store with a U-Haul counter

   F-150 stops near Hanoverton Feed and Supply U-Haul Rental, 29946 US-30, Hanoverton (1653 hours per infotainment; cell tower data puts his phone in Hanoverton at 1722). The truck was later recovered from that lot. Minute-level precision only.

7. 5:15 PM

   The U-Haul leaves Hanoverton

   The box truck pulls out of the lot at the 02:12 mark of the exterior camera. From here the Amber Alert vehicle description is wrong.

8. 7:53 PM28:24

   COP Alert: 'threatening suicide by cop'

   Caution Ohio Police teletype issued 19:53:30 listing the Subject, giving the originating incident location as 1108 Midway Street, Empire, and stating he was 'threatening suicide by cop' and in possession of a handgun.

9. 8:06 PM6:42

   Lights and siren - the stop that becomes a pursuit

   Dugan activates overhead lights then siren at 00:57. The Scene 75 exterior camera independently shows the U-Haul crossing the lot with a Brunswick cruiser behind it, lights on. derived_clock.

10. 8:17 PM

    OSHP spikes on I-71 South take a second tire

    OSHP cruiser 1274 sets spikes at I-71/271 and the U-Haul crosses them, dragging the attached line through the weeds. Approximately 2017 hours per the prosecutor summary; Flagg's Unit 25 dash shows the same crossing at 11:57.

11. 8:24 PM

    First shot from inside the cab

    A gunshot from the U-Haul, identified by officers on scene as coming from inside the truck. Heard on Dugan's dash at 18:52 and on Flagg's body camera at 16:03; OSHP cruiser 1274 was still moving and heard only the radio call. The Δ between this and the second shot is 88 seconds on both Brunswick…

12. 8:26 PM

    Second shot

    Heard directly on OSHP cruiser 1274's dash camera at its 19:09 mark - the anchor point for every other camera's clock in this dossier. Brunswick, Montville and MCSO cameras all carry it (Dugan 20:20, Scullin BWC 18:35, Flagg BWC 17:31, Piroli 16:01, Montville Unit 6 06:07).

13. 8:27 PM12:51

    'Just shot out the driver's side door'

    Deputy McGurk, watching the drone feed, radios that someone is still moving and that he 'just shot out the driver's side door', then at 20:27:23 'here's the handgun on the dash' and at 20:27:29 'there's a male inside with a handgun in his hand.'

14. 8:30 PM

    Drone: his arm around her, she is on the middle of the seat

    Right arm around the child, who is sitting in the centre of the U-Haul bench. derived_clock (051 @ 03:55).

15. 8:34 PM

    The 911 call: 'we are prepared to end it'

    12 minute 26 second call, recording 4_911_2_2024_11_11_20_34_47_by_Medina_City. He identifies himself as Charlie Alexander, says 'we tried to reach her mother and we can't', orders officers not to approach, and at 00:41 says 'we are prepared to end it'. He refuses to drop the gun out the window.…

16. 8:40 PM

    'He just told the little girl she's going to heaven'

    Dispatch relays the content of the 911 call to the perimeter; an officer adds 'He is starting to lose it' and 'We need to do something'. Carried on McGurk's body camera (garbled), on Cotrufo's and McGurk's dash cameras, and on Montville Unit 6. The prosecutor summary logs the same relay at the…

17. 8:51 PM

    Spotlights placed on both sides of the cab

    'We can get a spotlight on the passenger side of that vehicle' - Cotrufo's body camera; repeated on the OSHP net at 20:58:31 as the sniper asks for light. Officers deliberately keep the lights off until the tactical team is ready because 'the lights escalated last time'.

18. 8:53 PM

    The chief gets him on the phone - the last conversation

    Percy's body camera at 33:00: Minek is on the phone with the Subject. The call disconnects at 37:21. He never gets him back. derived_clock.

19. 8:59 PM

    69 yards

    Eckstine uses a rangefinder and tells the sniper the distance to the U-Haul is 69 yards; through binoculars he realises the driver's window is already broken, so shooting through glass is no longer a factor, and he radios the other SWAT members to have the assault team prepared. Approximate time -…

20. 9:01 PM25:00

    'Action 2! Action 2!' - the assault goes

    The execute call. On Percy's body camera an officer says 'Execute! Move! Execute! Execute! They're moving in.' Cotrufo's camera has 'Move! Move!' at his 17:44 mark. Immediately followed by 'Watch, watch, crossfire, watch crossfire' at 21:01:34.

21. 9:01 PM25:26

    Cotrufo reaches the driver's door

    At his 17:58 mark he is at the driver's side; the child is being taken out of the passenger side by SWAT and the Subject is slumped over. derived_clock.

22. 9:29 PM

    COP Alert cancelled

    Caution Ohio Police teletype deleted at 21:29:50.

23. 11:00 AM

    The trooper reads his statement to BCI

    Recorded interview at which the OSHP sniper reads a five-page prepared statement aloud: the 8:25 p.m. call-out, the drive in with lights and sirens, taking the Medina Road exit, the roof of the Durango, the sandbag and bipod, removing the heavy vest, the spotlight request, 69 yards, watching the…

24. 12:00 AM

    Grand jury declines to charge the trooper

    The investigation was presented to a Grand Jury in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas by the Medina County Prosecutor's Office. The Grand Jury declined to file criminal charges regarding the actions of the OSHP trooper in relation to the death of Charles Alexander. Evidence was returned to…