No charges filed against Whitehall police officers who killed man reaching for gun
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A Franklin County grand jury voted not to indict two Whitehall police officers who shot and killed a man last April.
According to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, a grand jury declined to return an indictment against the officers involved in the fatal shooting of 36-year-old Santiago Munoz, of Columbus.
The officers were conducting a routine traffic stop about 2 a.m. on April 19 when they heard gunfire nearby. Whitehall’s Shotspotter alerted the officers to the Roses Discount Store in the 4600 block of East Main Street.
Police saw two cars, but one, a dark SUV, sped away immediately. The officers approached two men sitting in the second vehicle. One officer came to the car first on the driver’s side, followed by the other on the passenger’s side.
Bodycam video showed the driver’s side officer asking if the pair spoke English, and both men said no. The passenger’s side officer took a drink can from the man in that seat. The officers then asked in Spanish if the occupants had any handguns or drugs, and they again replied no.
The officers briefly pointed their flashlights into the backseats and then back toward the passengers. The video recorded the officer on the driver’s side alerting the other one that he spotted a “33,” a police code for a person with a gun.
Police ordered the men to put their hands up get out of the silver Honda Pilot. The driver did exit the vehicle, but Munoz allegedly ignored the officers’ commands and began to reach for the gun. Both officers fired at Munoz, who was fatally shot in the head.
Neither officer was injured, and a search of the vehicle uncovered several handguns.
The driver of the Honda, 35-year-old William Villatoro, was arrested on charges of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
Whitehall Chief of Police Mike Crispen said the unnamed officers each have one to three years of experience with Whitehall police. It was the first officer involved shooting in Whitehall since 2018, according to Crispen.