LIBERTY – A Kinsman man is dead after a police chase on state Routes 11 and 82 turned violent Friday.

Cody Dempsey, 25, of Kinsman, died shortly after noon at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Young-stown from wounds suffered during a shootout with officers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office and Weathersfield police.

Dempsey was driving a blue 1983 Cadillac El Dorado that had been reported stolen earlier in the morning, when a deputy sheriff spotted the car. The deputy attempted to stop the car, but Dempsey took off.

The police pursuit began, with officers from several agencies chasing Dempsey.

Eventually, police set up stop spikes – rows of spiked material designed to deflate tires – near the southbound Tibbetts Wick Road exit of state Route 11.

After Dempsey’s car came to a stop, Lt. Brian Holt of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the situation took a dangerous turn.

“Officers approached the vehicle and attempted to subdue the suspect,” Holt said. “A weapon was brandished at that time, and shots were fired. The suspect eventually passed away as a result of critical injuries that were sustained.”

Holt identified the weapon Dempsey possessed as a semi-automatic handgun. He did not comment on the number of shots fired, or whether law enforcement or the victim initiated the shooting.

No officers were hurt during the confrontation.

The vehicle was reported stolen at 3:50 a.m. by its owner, Warren resident Dennis Richards. Richards said he had been keeping the car at Burghill Auto Salvage in Kinsman with the intention of repairing the vehicle.

“I drove it over (to the salvage shop) with the intention of repairing it, but I just hadn’t been able to get to it,” Richards said. “I got a call from (Burghill Auto Salvage owner) Dan (Hall) at around 3:50 in the morning, asking me if I was taking the car because he just saw it driving up the road.”

Richards said he called 911 to report the theft and talked to authorities before reaching what he said he felt was a dead end.

“I eventually talked to one department at around 6 a.m. and they told me to give them a call if I saw my car around,” Richards said.

After taking a trip to Youngstown later Friday morning, Richards said he did eventually come across his car.

“I was taking a load of scrap down to Youngstown and when I was on my way back (on state Route 11 northbound), I saw about 25 state patrol cars with their lights flashing, and I thought it was a bad accident,” Richards said. “I couldn’t actually see the car, but I saw on the noon news what had happened and I thought, ‘Hey, that’s my car.'”

The southbound lanes of Route 11 in the immediate area of Tibbets Wick Road were closed in the hours following the incident. Traffic was blocked off and a state patrol helicopter was parked on the highway at one point.

According to Holt, the road was reopened about 5 p.m.

Holt would not release the identities of or the number of officers directly involved in the shooting, although he did note that all officers involved are on paid administrative leave, a policy shared by all three of the involved law enforcement agencies for officers involved in the use of lethal force.

Information on the incident was scarce as of Friday evening, but Holt said that he hopes to have the investigation completed and more information to release within a week.

“There were a lot of units that responded and were part of the investigation early on and we’re still sorting all of this out,” Holt said. “We’ll have a complete and thorough investigation done in short order.”

A request was made by the Tribune Chronicle for the dashboard camera footage of the OSHP cruisers involved, however the request was denied. According to Holt, the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office declined the request on the grounds of it being an ongoing investigation.

charris@tribtoday.com