Car theft, burglary, shooting, police chase land Columbus teen in jail

A car theft, a burglary, a shooting and a police chase have landed an 18-year-old Columbus man in jail on multiple charges.

Christian Gray is accused of stealing a car from Lakebottom Park, breaking into a home on Donald Street, shooting at three men he met on Chalbena Avenue to sell stolen goods to, and leading police on an extended chase through the area around Amber Drive and Buena Vista Road.

It all started on Sept. 25 at Lakebottom Park off Cherokee Avenue, where a man who parked there to play basketball discovered his car keys and 2003 Mitsubishi Montero were missing, investigators said.

It all came to a head on Oct. 20, when police investigating reports of a suspicious person near Chalbena Avenue and Teresa Street heard a gunshot and saw three men in a red Oldsmobile Alero speeding away.

As police stopped that car to question the occupants, another officer saw a gray Mitsubishi racing away in the same area and tried to stop it.

The driver sped away, running stop signs and red lights as he weaved through the neighborhood on Floyd Road, Woodland Drive, Winifred Lane, Mill Branch Road, Amber Drive, Buena Vista Road, Higgs Drive, Vista Drive, Wilder Drive, Pinecrest Drive, Steam Mill Road and Dogwood Drive, where he nearly caused a head-on collision, police said.

Finally the officer lost track of the car at St. Marys Road and Farr Road, and the vehicle later was found abandoned on Wickham Drive.

Meanwhile the three men from the red Oldsmobile told police they had gone to Chalbena Avenue to buy stolen flat-screen TVs and other goods from Gray. Further investigation revealed the loot came from an Oct. 7 burglary on Donald Street, where security cameras recorded two men in a gray Mitsubishi backing up to the house and kicking the door in.

Detectives tracked Gray to a home on Brightstar Lane, not far from where the police chase ended, and arrested him Friday, they said.

“I don’t know nothing about it,” Gray told Recorder’s Court Judge Michael Cielinski when asked Tuesday for his defense.

Cielinski set Gray’s bonds at $10,000 each on two counts of burglary and one count each of aggravated assault and using a firearm to commit a crime, plus multiple traffic offenses.

This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Car theft, burglary, shooting, police chase land Columbus teen in jail."