Man Steals Police Cruiser and Crashes Through a Home After He Makes Another Run for It

A man fleeing Dayton police escaped into a backyard, doubled back to where officers had stopped his vehicle and stole one of their cruisers, police say.

That second getaway did not last much longer than the first.

The stolen cruiser crashed completely through an occupied Dayton home, leaving two residents injured. Police say the driver then fought with officers, tried to take an officer’s gun and bit an officer as they took him into custody.

Seven officers were injured during the arrest, according to the Dayton Police Department. Six were taken to a hospital as a precaution and later released.

The man has since been identified as 27-year-old Tywon Stephens. Separate investigations have also connected him to an aggravated robbery in Moraine and a homicide investigation in nearby Miami Township.

One Chase Down

Dayton officers were already handling an unrelated crash at West Third Street and Gettysburg Avenue around 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 3 when a Toyota SUV came speeding through the blocked intersection.

Police said the SUV crossed left of center, knocked down a street sign and continued driving erratically.

Officers pursued it because of what the department described as a threat to public safety and used a pursuit intervention technique to stop the SUV in less than two minutes.

The driver ran from the vehicle into a fenced backyard with heavy vegetation. Officers followed but lost sight of him.

Then he came back.

Police said the driver circled around to the scene where the pursuit had ended, climbed into a Dayton police cruiser and drove away despite commands from officers to get out. He struck another cruiser while leaving.

Round Two

A second pursuit began.

It also lasted less than two minutes.

This time, police said the stolen cruiser ended up going completely through a house on Greenway Street.

Two people were inside. Officers helped them out of the home, and both were taken to a hospital with injuries that police described as non-life-threatening.

The driver still was not finished fighting, according to the department.

Police said he attacked an officer, tried to take the officer’s firearm and bit the officer while continuing to resist arrest. Officers used force to take him into custody.

Seven Dayton officers were injured. Six went to the hospital for precautionary treatment and were released.

A Wider Trail

The Toyota SUV had also been stolen, police said.

Moraine police had been dealing with an aggravated robbery involving the vehicle shortly before the Dayton pursuits.

The case then widened further.

The Miami Township Police Department said officers conducting a welfare check on the morning of Sept. 4 found a woman dead from a gunshot wound inside an apartment on Cold Water Court.

Her vehicle was missing.

Miami Township police said their investigation connected the suspect in that homicide to a carjacking attempt in Moraine and the theft and crash of the Dayton police cruiser.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office later identified the woman as 36-year-old Tiffany Collins.

Four Charges So Far

Stephens was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on Sept. 7.

He was being held on a $500,000 bond with four pending felony charges: felonious assault on a peace officer, aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and two counts of failure to comply, according to WHIO, citing county jail records.

Those charges concern the pursuit and robbery cases. As of Sept. 8, the homicide investigation remained ongoing and no homicide charge had been filed.

Miami Township police initially investigated Collins’ death with assistance from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. BCI has since taken over that homicide investigation, WHIO reported.

The Dayton Police Department said its Violent Offender Unit and Traffic Services Unit are investigating the incidents involving its officers. Its Professional Standards Bureau will review the entire encounter after the criminal prosecution concludes.