Here’s body camera video of Ryan Vardman on the scene of a 2015 police shooting

The officer involved in the deadly chase near Cusseta Road was seen being dragged by a suspect’s car in a body camera video that went viral on the Ledger-Enquirer’s website in 2015.

The Columbus Police Department on Monday identified Ryan Vardman as the officer who fatally hit 22-year-old Deonte Giles with a patrol car following Thursday’s chase from Nina Street to Cusseta Road near 25th Avenue. Officials said Giles was point a weapon at police.

Click here to read a column by Ledger-Enquirer editor Dimon Kendrick-Holmes about the lessons the Columbus community learned from watching bodycam video of the 2015 incident in which Vardman was injured.

In November 2015, Vardman was one of three officers injured during the arrest of then-29-year-old Towon Obryan Earl on 28th Street.

Officials said Vardman approached the suspect’s vehicle when he saw it stopped in the middle of the roadway in a well-known drug area.

Police said he was standing behind the driver’s door, which was open, when Earl backed up and struck officer Michael Aguilar with the bumper of his vehicle.

Authorities said the driver’s door struck Vardman, who jumped into the moving vehicle to avoid getting run over. He wasn’t able to get himself completely inside the vehicle, but he continued to grab onto the car, according to police.

Earl allegedly pulled forward and the driver’s door struck Cpl. Dean Spata. The impact pushed Vardman farther into the vehicle. He tried to pull himself all the way into the vehicle but wasn’t successful, officials said.

Earl’s vehicle dragged Vardman along the ground before striking an undercover police vehicle and an apartment complex, officials said.

Officer Raymond Harralson, a five-year veteran, shot Earl in the right leg after he allegedly witnessed Earl reach for a gun.

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Here’s body camera video of Ryan Vardman on the scene of a 2015 police shooting."