TOLEDO, Ohio — Last Friday afternoon, customers at the Original Sub Shop at the Broadway and Knapp streets intersection in south Toledo found their attention pulled away from their food when they saw a crash in the street escalate quickly.
Toledo police confirmed to WTOL 11 that one vehicle collided with another in a fender bender. But the driver of the vehicle struck didn't step out of his car with his insurance, he came out with a gun, police claimed.
Jess Wegert, an eyewitness who was inside the sub shop at the time, captured video of the incident. She claimed 37-year-old Adam Conley paced back and forth after the crash, gun in hand, occasionally pointing it at the people who hit his car.
"It was quite scary as he was pointing it right in their faces and seemed to be in a fit of rage, so I was a bit fearful that something would happen to them," Wegert said.
TPD was en route after receiving a 911 call.
While firearms are somewhat common on calls TPD responds to, it's that critical officers refer to their firearms and de-escalation training to end the situation safely, Lt. Paul Davis, TPD's public information officer, said.
In body camera video of the incident, officers arrived at the scene brandishing AR-15s while screaming at Conley "drop the gun" multiple times. He quickly complied and the officers then rushed and handcuffed him.
Conley was charged with assault and aggravated menacing and has pleaded not guilty.
No one was hurt, partially because TPD officers prepare for a variety of scenarios they could respond to, including the one with Conley, Davis said.
"We train for scenarios like this," Davis said. "We have verbal de-escalation training and firearms training, which go hand in hand."