A 63-year-old Orient, Ohio man is in the Delaware County Jail after police say he flagged down an officer near U.S. 36, drove through a red light, and then refused commands while announcing he was carrying a firearm outside a Sheetz gas station. Lester Earl Bowe surrendered only after officers fired a less-lethal kinetic sponge round to stop him from walking away from the scene, according to police.
According to CW Columbus, Bowe was driving a white Toyota pickup truck with no visible license plates when he flagged down a Delaware police officer near U.S. 36 and Mill-Run Crossing on Friday. Police say he then drove through a red traffic light before the encounter escalated near the Sheetz station, where he told the officer he was armed and had a visible firearm on his person. Bowe refused to provide information officers requested and then attempted to leave the area while ignoring their demands to stop, according to the outlet’s report on the police account.
The police interaction was reportedly tied to events that unfolded before Bowe reached Delaware. Per News And Weather For Southern Ohio, a Delaware Police Department statement indicates Bowe was allegedly involved in reckless driving and fled the scene of a separate traffic collision outside city limits earlier that day, an incident now under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Bowe lives in Orient.
Less-Lethal Force Ends a Tense Roadside Encounter
Rather than resorting to deadly force, Delaware officers deployed a less-lethal kinetic sponge round when Bowe ignored commands and tried to walk away while armed. These rounds are built to incapacitate without penetrating skin; Police Magazine says the 30-gram eXact iMpact sponge round has a muzzle velocity of 325 feet per second, according to research published by Police Magazine. Bowe surrendered to officers after being struck by the projectile…