A 25-year-old Newark man is facing a criminal charge after a Newark Police Department officer shot him in his parked car in the parking lot of the Licking County Family YMCA on Friday, Aug. 15.
In a criminal complaint filed in the Licking County Court of Common Pleas on Wednesday, Aug. 20, police said Dylan Goodin pointed “a black hand gun” – likely a Ruger Security 9 mm pistol recovered from the passenger seat floor of his vehicle – “out of the front driver’s window and toward the back window repeatedly at officers … despite commands to drop the weapon and display empty hands.”
Court records indicate Goodin faces one felony count of obstructing official business. Section 2921.31 of the Ohio Revised Code states, “No person, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct, or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within the public official’s official capacity, shall do any act that hampers or impedes a public official in the performance of the public official’s lawful duties. Whoever violates this section is guilty of obstructing official business. Except as otherwise provided in this division, obstructing official business is a misdemeanor of the second degree. If a violation of this section creates a risk of physical harm to any person, obstructing official business is a felony of the fifth degree.”
Newark Police Department officers were on the lookout for Goodin’s vehicle – a red 2007 Saturn Aura – after he fled a traffic stop in nearby Granville two days prior.
On Wednesday, Aug. 13, Goodin was driving east on Ohio Route 16 when a Granville Police Department officer clocked his car at speeds between 73-75 mph in a 55 mph zone. When the officer pulled over Goodin, he stopped temporarily but drove away when the officer approached his vehicle, according to a field report obtained by The Reporting Project.
GPD put out a notice for other law enforcement jurisdictions to look out for the car, and about 33 hours later, the Newark Police Department identified it in the parking lot of the YMCA Outdoor Pool, which is about 100 yards from the main YMCA building on West Church Street in Newark.
Goodin remains hospitalized, recovering at Mount Carmel East, where he was transported on Aug. 15 for surgery. Members of his family told The Reporting Project late Wednesday that Goodin remains “heavily sedated” and on a ventilator.
Prosecutors requested a $1 million bond for Goodin and called him a “dangerous individual” in the bond recommendation filed with the Court of Common Pleas.
But his family says they have questions the local police haven’t answered. The incident is currently under investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and both Newark PD and the BCI said they could not comment on the ongoing investigation.
“Everybody says we need answers from him, but obviously we can’t get them from him right now,” said Teresa Goodin, Dylan’s older sister. “No one will give us answers. That’s all we want.”
Teresa said the Dylan her family knows is “good-hearted” and always trying to help others, working as an emergency responder for local fire departments and a home health aide, and caring for their sick father before he died in December last year.
“He liked to joke around. He was the type of kid that wanted everybody to like him. He never got in fights,” Teresa said. “We’re all stunned that this happened – to him, to us – because this is just not Dylan. … And where he got a gun? None of us even knew he had one.”
Teresa said Dylan had been experiencing mental health challenges in the months leading up to the incident on Aug. 15 – particularly after their father died – and that his family had pushed him to seek treatment, though he was resistant to it. He left his family home to stay in his car and sometimes, a local homeless shelter.
“We try to talk to him about getting counseling, getting help, but we can’t force him,” Teresa said. “He was, we thought, starting to do better, getting his life together. He was starting to go to church, got a halfway decent job. We actually thought he was starting to turn his life around for the good, and then this happened.”
Teresa said the family learned about the incident from watching the news.
“No one came to my mom’s, or was like ‘this happened at 7:15 this morning and your son is in the hospital,’” she said. “Somebody just happened to be watching the news and called my sister, like, ‘I think this is Dylan’s car.’ And that’s how that came about, everybody finding out.
“And then, we couldn’t get information if he was alive, dead, what was going on,” she added. “It was awful, not knowing what was going on.”
Newark Police Department declined to comment prior to publication.
A court hearing has not yet been scheduled, but Teresa said Dylan has a long road to recovery – a road that the family plans to support him through.
“We are there for each other,” Teresa said. “We will be there for Dylan.”
Newark Police Department officers involved in the incident remain on leave while the BCI investigation continues.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol issues, visit FindSupport.gov. If you are ready to locate a treatment facility or provider, you can go directly to FindTreatment.gov or call 800-662-HELP (4357).