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Warren man faces six felony charges

Accused of shooting at officers during chase

WARREN — A Warren man accused of shooting at law enforcement during an Oct. 17, 2020, chase through Warren, faces six felony charges after being indicted Thursday by a Trumbull County grand jury.

Mehki Walker, 20, of 487 Martin St. SW, is charged with two counts of attempted murder each with firearm specifications.

He also faces two counts of felonious assault each with firearm specifications, one count of failure to comply with order or signal of a police officer, and one count of having weapons under restrictions.

Court records show Walker will be arraigned this morning before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Peter J. Kontos.

If convicted of all charges, Walker could face more than 60 years in prison. Each of the gun specifications carry three-year mandatory sentences.

Jail records show Walker has been locked up since his Nov. 5, 2020, arrest in connection with an Oct. 17 incident in which someone inside a vehicle opened fire on police.

According to a police report, a Warren officer was on patrol near Northwest Boulevard when he heard four gunshots close by. Those gunshots were an exchange on Southern Boulevard between sheriff’s deputies and someone in the vehicle, reports show.

A few seconds later, the officer saw a vehicle moving at high speed turn southbound from Williamsburg onto Bennett Street. The vehicle then turned eastbound onto Northwest and did not stop for a stop sign.

When the officer activated his lights and siren, the driver of the vehicle cracked his door and began firing from a handgun. The pursuit continued on Northwest with the vehicles within 20 yards of each other as the chase went to Dennison Avenue, the report states.

The city officer reported drawing his pistol but could not get a clear shot at the suspect, the report states.

As the driver attempted a turn onto Norwood Street, the vehicle went off the roadway into a ditch. As the suspect got out of the vehicle, he threw the firearm behind him and ran in the opposite direction. Another male came out of the passenger side of the vehicle and began running in the same direction as the shooter, through backyards toward Bradford Street.

The officer recovered the firearm, and police set loose a police dog in an attempt to locate the suspect.

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