COLUMBUS – A Reynoldsburg man has pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a string of robberies that ended in a shootout with police on a downtown freeway in July that left a suspect dead and a Columbus police officer wounded.
Aden Jama, 20, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to bank robbery and other charges in connection to several thefts, including that of a car from a Whitehall car dealer which was used in a holdup at a Hilliard bank that led to a pursuit and the shootout on I-70 near Mound Street on July 6, according to a release from the office of U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker.
Jama and 23-year-old Faisal Darod, of Columbus, were charged by a federal grand jury in a 10-count superseding indictment on Sept. 27 for their alleged involvement in shooting of a Columbus police officer in an exchange of gunfire in which a third suspect was killed.
According to his plea agreement, Jama met up with Darod and another man on July 5, after they robbed the Fifth Third Bank on Fishinger Road in Upper Arlington at gunpoint, and drove them from W. Sixth Avenue in Columbus to the Baymont Inn and Suites on Morse Road after they abandon a stolen Corvette used in the holdup, Parker said.
While at the hotel, Darod and Jama recorded a video on Darod’s cell phone showing Darod lying on the bed surrounded by the recently stolen cash.
The following day, Jama served as a driver or lookout before and after an armed robbery at Byers Imports in Whitehall, when a Porsche Cayenne was stolen and used in a robbery of a Fifth Third Bank branch on Hilliard-Rome Road on the Far West Side.
Shortly after the robbery at the car dealership, Jama and Darod met up with the suspect who allegedly stole the SUV at a townhome complex on the southeast side of Columbus and drove to the location of the robbery at speeds sometimes exceeding 100 mph, Parker said.
Jama again served as the lookout during the holdup but, unbeknownst to the three men, Whitehall police detectives had been tracking their movements using the Porsche’s onboard GPS system and surrounded the car at the bank.
They ordered the men to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove the stolen Porsche through a gap in the detectives’ cars and fled over a grass embankment onto Hilliard-Rome Road, eventually reaching Roberts Road and the interstate, Parker said.
Columbus officers spotted the stolen vehicle on I-70 traveling eastbound and the suspects reached speeds of more than 125 mph on the crowded roadway while attempting to flee before the vehicle became damaged and came to an abrupt stop.
While Jama and Darod ran away, the driver used a handgun with an extended magazine to ambush the responding officers, opening fire from close range and striking one officer, who suffered life-threatening injuries before the suspect was struck several times and died of his gunshot wounds soon after, Parker said.
Following the gun battle on I-70, a coordinated manhunt ensued for Jama and Darod, who was arrested in Columbus on the evening of July 7.
Authorities say Darod had conducted several internet searches for flights out of Columbus to Somalia.
U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security Investigation agents arrested Jama at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on July 8, bound for Turkey, with an ultimate destination of Somalia.
Aiding and abetting a bank robbery is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a crime of violence carries a potential penalty of at least five years and up to life in prison and being an accessory after the fact to bank robbery is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Charges remain pending against Darod, Parker said.