Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Ohio: Man Fights Would-Be Robbers In Ambush

Galion, Ohio

From NBC4 of August 13, 2008
Man Fights Would-Be Robbers In Ambush

A Galion man agreed to meet someone in Lancaster to buy some construction equipment, but it was all a set-up to a robbery.

The prospective customer was told to meet the seller on an area of desolate land in Lancaster to buy a Bobcat -- a type of construction equipment, NBC 4's Mike Bowersock reported.

Shortly after arriving, the man was walking across the field when someone approached him from the left, cursed at him and pointed a gun at him.

"There was a verbal agreement of $7,000 cash for the Bobcat and the (customer) showed up with the cash and found out it was actually a robbery -- ambush," said Sgt. Mike Peters, of Lancaster police.

But, the customer was prepared -- and had a concealed carry permit and two guns.

He unloaded one gun on the robbers and then started with the second gun.

The robbers returned fire, and it is believed that one of them was shot.

"He was in fear for his life. He felt that he was going to be shot and killed and he actually did pull his gun and shot several times at the robber," Peters said.

No arrests have been made, but a man with a gunshot wound at The Ohio State University Medical Center is a suspect.

Central Ohio Crime Stoppers told NBC 4 that taking large amounts of cash to someone unknown is never a good idea -- and customers should never go alone.

From the Lancaster Eagle Gazette of August 13, 2008
Shots fired at Lancaster quarry

Lancaster police are looking for a man who allegedly tried to rob another man during a business transaction in a quarry Tuesday.

Nathan R. Zeger, 27, of Galion, was meeting an individual to purchase a Bobcat around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday in the quarry in the 800 block of South Ewing Street, according to a Lancaster Police report.

There are no houses or businesses next to or across from the site.

As Zeger approached a white male dressed in black, another male wearing a black ski mask approached from Zeger's left and told Zeger to get down while pointing a black handgun at him.

Zeger dropped to the ground and pulled his .38 caliber handgun and shot six times at the male in the ski mask. The man in the ski mask fired three shots at Zeger in the exchange, according to the report.

Zeger has an Ohio Concealed Carry Weapon license. Zeger was not injured in the incident. The police report did not specify whether the man in the ski mask was injured in the exchange.

Zeger fled the quarry to South Ewing Street, where he was when Lancaster Police Detective E.L. Eggleston arrived at the scene. The detective's bureau did respond and the area was canvassed, according to the report.

Zeger said he saw the suspect leave the scene in a black Nissan type vehicle with an Ohio temporary tag on the rear "at a high rate of speed" heading southbound on South Ewing, according to the report. It did not detail what became of the man Zeger was meeting to purchase the Bobcat.

The Lancaster Police Detectives are working with the Hocking County Sheriff's Office, the Logan Police Department and the Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation to locate the suspect, the vehicle and the firearm.

If anyone has information about the incident, they are asked to call the Lancaster Police Department at 740-687-6680.

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