Lorain Police release body camera footage of robbery suspect shot on Oct. 7 (VIDEO) (UPDATED)

LORAIN — Lorain released information on an officer-involved shooting earlier this month. During a news conference Thursday morning, Lorain police released body camera footage from an incident Oct. 7 in which Officer Isaiah Taylor shot Dustin Lee Terry, a suspect in a car break-in who reportedly pointed a firearm at police while running from the scene. The crime A woman called 911 around 12:05 a.m. Oct. 7 to report her car was being broken into. The car, a white Chevrolet Cruze, was parked in her driveway in the 1300 block of West 17th Street and she saw a man wearing all black clothing breaking into it in her home surveillance footage, she told the dispatcher. She also told the dispatcher she thought the man had a gun. When officers arrived at the home, Taylor began checking the Chevrolet Cruze, Police Chief Jim McCann said while Officer Austin Krausher spoke to Sienna Plaza. Plaza was later identified as Terry's driver and who gave him the handgun, McCann said. Plaza, who was parked in a car near the driveway where the break-in occurred, told officers she had seen people down the road by another silver vehicle. A man, later identified as Terry, wearing all black clothes and a bandana over half his face then walked from behind the house, and Krausher, according to body camera footage, saw a gun in the man's hand. Krausher can be heard yelling for Terry to "Drop the f----ing gun. Drop the gun." Taylor also yells at Terry. Officer Taylor attempted to use his Taser, McCann said, but only one probe struck Terry so it was ineffective. Terry then began running, and while running turned and pointed the gun in the direction of officers — specifically Officer David Rees, who was chasing him with Taylor, Krausher and Sgt. Jesse Perkins. Perkins had arrived at the scene after the other officers and was approaching Terry from beside another home off Ashland Avenue. From when Taylor attempted to use his Taser to when he shot Terry was a matter of seconds, McCann said. Terry was struck four times out of the five shots Taylor fired, hitting him in the arm, side and lower back. McCann said it was clear Taylor was worried about the potential for crossfire as the officers converged around Terry and "took action before it got any worse." After Terry was shot, Taylor and Perkins ran to their respective patrol cars for their medical bags, while Perkins called for backup and LifeCare to come to the scene. Terry was conscious when handcuffed and administered first aid by officers until LifeCare arrived to take him to the hospital, according to the body camera footage. Elyria Police Capt. Bill Lantz said the handgun recovered from Terry was loaded. Terry has since been released from Cleveland's MetroHealth Medical Center and booked into the Lorain County Jail on charges of contempt of court and aggravated robbery. Plaza, 28, was charged with complicityHistory McCann noted it was not Lorain police's first time encountering Terry. In May 2023, officers with the Patrol Impact Team pulled him over for a traffic violation on the 5000 block of Oberlin Avenue on May 27, 2023. The Patrol Impact Team, or PIT, is a small patrol team deployed in high-crime areas of the city to proactively stop crime. It often uses traffic violations to find individuals in possession of guns or illicit substances. "We get more guns and more bad guys with more warrants out of minor violations of traffic than anything else we do," McCann said. "Which is why we do a lot of traffic enforcement — we get guns and bad guys off the street." During the traffic stop, Terry reportedly reached for a handgun with an extended magazine that was on his passenger seat, McCann said. Terry was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, improper handling of firearms in a vehicle, possession of marijuana and driving under suspension, according to Lorain County Common Pleas Court records. Terry pleaded guilty to improper handling of firearms in a vehicle, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced by Judge James Miraldi to six months in jail and fined $1,000, suspended on the condition of one year of good behavior. That one year expired Oct. 6, 2024 — five minutes before Terry broke into the vehicle on West 17th Street, McCann said. Outside of that incident, Terry has a criminal history dating back to at least 2017, according to Lorain County Jail records. He remains in the Lorain County Jail on a $102,500 bond. Investigation After Terry was shot, McCann called Elyria police to handle the investigation as an independent department. Elyria police Capt. Bill Lantz said his department is conducting a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the shooting and there will be additional items sent out for testing before the case is presented to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. From there, it will be up to the Prosecutor's Office to rule whether the shooting was justified, or to present it to a grand jury for charges. After Thursday's news conference, McCann said Elyria police were called to investigate because Lorain police have a mutual aid agreement with the neighboring agency. Lorain Police have mutual aid agreements with several surrounding agencies, including the Lorain County Sheriff's Office and other neighboring police departments, he said, but it usually calls Elyria Police or LCSO for shooting investigations because those officers are used to handling those types of investigations. He said there is also a Critical Incident Task Force in Lorain County available to investigate as well. The state Bureau of Criminal Investigation also offers an Officer-Involved Critical Incident Response Team. Its unit is available to law enforcement around the state, according to its website, and can be called to assist in an officer-involved incident to investigate and create a "comprehensive and impartial report." McCann said the BCI unit can take months to investigate, as well as its travel time to get to the initial scene from Columbus — while Elyria police or Lorain County Sheriff's Office are already in the county. This is Lorain police's third officer-involved shooting in two years and the second shooting Taylor has been involved in since he was hired in August 2019. On Oct. 7, 2022, Taylor, along with officer Tyler Rospert and Sgt. Martin Carreon, shot and killed Christopher Boggess on Meister Road. Boggess, 49, had shot at a car while driving on Meister Road, threatened the office manager at his former apartment complex, and threatened the police department a day earlier after attempting to request several police reports at the department's walk-up records window. That shooting was investigated by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office and ruled justified by the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office later that year. Prior to that, Officer Kyle Shawver shot and killed Charles White after White attempted to stab him during a warrant service in a basement on West 20th Street on July 30, 2022. Elyria police investigated the incident and Shawver's use of force was also ruled justified by the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Before 2022, it had been 20 years since a Lorain police officer shot and killed a suspect. McCann said officers are more aggressive in fighting crime now. "We're actually aggressive," he said. "I want guys to go out and investigate. I want guys to go out and stop violent crime. When you target violent crime, this is what you're going to get." This year's incident remains under investigation by Elyria police. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.