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Suspect shoots at Hubbard officer
HUBBARD
Kenneth Bednar came back to his Clingan Street home from the hardware store about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday and right away called his brother, who has a police scanner.
While Bednar was out, he’d seen several police cars — what we now know was part of the intense manhunt for a man who’d shot at a Hubbard police officer while fleeing a traffic stop.
Once he had his answer — they were looking for a man who’d fired six shots at a cop — he checked his garage to make sure no one was hiding there and closed the door.
His wife, Vicki, saw police on Tylee Lane, a small side street that intersects with Clingan not far from their yard.
She went inside and upstairs, she said, and looked out a window.
At 12:07 p.m. — she remembers looking at the time — “I saw him running through our backyard ...”
He wasn’t running for long.
“He heard and saw the cops on Tylee Lane,” she said. “And he dropped immediately.”
So ended the short but intense manhunt for Jeffrey Irby, 26, of Fort Wayne, Ind., who was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for a minor traffic violation about 11:45 a.m. at the Circle K convenience store on West Liberty Street across from the municipal building.
Irby bolted while the driver, Jason Duecaster, 30, of Steel Street in Youngstown, stayed with the car in the store parking lot.
Patrol Officer D.J. Dripps, who has been with the Hubbard Police Department full time almost a year, chased Irby several blocks up Hager Street behind the store, said Police Chief Jim Taafe. Police believe it was there that Irby opened fire, firing three to seven shots at Dripps, who was not hit.
Dripps ducked for cover and lost sight of Irby, who dropped down into weeds and took off his sweatshirt and pants, Taafe said.
Police from several jurisdictions — Hubbard Township, Campbell, Liberty, Coitsville and Lowellville and the Violent Crimes Task Force — searched the neighborhood, while city schools, St. Patrick School and day-care centers were locked down, Taafe said.
Irby is facing charges of improper handling of a firearm, felonious assault and carrying a weapon while not being legally allowed to do so.
Duecaster is charged with improper handling of a firearm, felonious assault and driving under suspension, Taafe said. Taafe said the prosecutor advised police to file those charges against Duecaster even though he did not use a gun in the incident.
Taafe said police are still trying to determine why Irby is in the Youngstown area.
The two men were in the Trumbull County jail Tuesday night and were expected to be arraigned in Girard Municipal Court this morning, Taafe said.