Police capture armed robbery suspect after brief foot chase

A man wanted in connection with an armed robbery was captured Tuesday afternoon at the intersection of 24th Street and Hamilton Road, according to a Columbus police report.

Two officers went to the area around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday searching for Christopher Lynn Copeland, who was wanted on an active armed robbery warrant. The details of the incident that led to the warrant weren’t immediately released.

Officials said they were traveling east bound in the 600 block of 24th Street when they saw Copeland walking east bound near Hamilton Road carrying an orange fleece, jacket and black t-shirt in his hand. He then walked across the road to the east side.

Authorities attempted to detain him but he allegedly fled on foot, heading south through the 2300 block on the east side of Hamilton Road.

“During the pursuit, we gave multiple loud verbal commands identifying ourselves as police officers and ordering Mr. Copeland to stop,” police said in the report. “After a short foot pursuit, Mr. Copeland was taken into custody without further incident or injury.”

Officers said the found a prescription pill bottle in the upper left chest pocket of the jacket that had another individual’s name and “Hydrocodone APAP” listed on the label. The items inside the bottle included 14 Vicodin pills (street value of $350), seven Lortab pills (street value of $175) and a corner of a clear plastic bag containing two “slabs” of suspected crack cocaine (4.46 grams with a street value of $436), according to police.

In the jacket pocket, authorities allegedly found a Newport cigarette box containing a glass crack cocaine smoking device and a clear plastic bag with several pieces of an off-white rock-like substance believed to be crack cocaine (.24 grams with a street value of $24.)

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Police capture armed robbery suspect after brief foot chase."