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Hubbard officer testifies he heard a bullet ‘whiz’ by him
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
D.J. Dripps, a Hubbard police officer for just 18 months, found himself in a potential life-and-death situation in October after a routine traffic stop.
A man involved in the stop, accused by police of shooting at Dripps, is on trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
In testimony Wednesday, Dripps said he pulled over a car driven by Jason Duecaster, 30, of Steel Street in Youngstown, about 11:45 a.m. Oct. 14 in the parking lot of the Circle K store on West Liberty Street because the car’s license plates were expired.
Within moments of the traffic stop, the passenger door opened and a man ran from the car and into the backyards on nearby Hager Street.
Dripps pursued the suspect on foot, leaving fellow officer Ted Thirion to assist with the driver.
Dripps said he was gaining ground on the suspect, later identified as Jeffrey Irby, 26, who listed addresses in Youngstown and Indiana, and was only about 20 feet behind when the man pulled a handgun from the waistband of his pants, turned part way toward him with the gun and fired it.
Neighbors would testify they heard about four shots. Dripps said the number was between three and seven.
Dripps took cover behind a tree and aimed his weapon at the suspect 30 yards away. He didn’t fire, he said, because there were houses behind the suspect that could have been hit by an errant bullet.
The location was only a short distance from the Hubbard Police Department, allowing other officers and police Chief James Taafe to arrive quickly to help with the chase.
Police from Hubbard Township, Campbell, Liberty, Coitsville, Lowellville and the Violent Crimes Task Force searched the neighborhood, while city schools, St. Patrick School and day-care centers were locked down.
About a half-hour later, Taafe and safety-service director Lou Carsone arrested Irby in the yard of a house nearby. He had a handgun in his possession.
Irby is on trial on charges of felonious assault, resisting arrest, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, illegal possession of a firearm, tampering with evidence and carrying a concealed weapon.
Gabe Wildman, assistant county prosecutor, asked Dripps whether Irby was firing at him.
“I knew I was being shot at,” Dripps replied, adding he heard the same sound that day as when he was in firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in the military — the sound of a bullet whiz by him.
In his opening statement, Wildman said prosecutors have a “treasure trove of evidence” to prove Irby’s guilt.
David Rouzzo of the Ohio Public Defender’s Office is Irby’s attorney. If convicted, Irby faces the possibility of more than 20 years in prison.