A federal grand jury has indicted two Central Ohio men on charges related to the bank robbery and shootout with Columbus Police on July 6.
Aden Abdullahi Jama, 20, of Reynoldsburg, and Fazsal Darod, 23, of Columbus, face counts of aiding and abetting bank robbery and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in a crime of violence.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Ohio stated in a news release on Friday that the men allegedly robbed a Fifth Third bank on Hilliard Rome Road before encountering police on I-70 near downtown. A shootout severely injured a Columbus police officer. A third person in the car with Darod and Jama was killed.
Both face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of bank robbery. They also face at least five years and up to life in prison for aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a violent crime.
The crime spree started when one of the men stole the keys to an SUV at gunpoint from a worker at a Porsche dealership in Whitehall and then allegedly robbed the bank. The trio fled in the SUV and the police pursuit began, eventually winding up on Interstate 70 in near downtown Columbus.
Jama, of Reynoldsburg, was arrested over the weekend at Chicago O’Hare International Airport by United States Marshals and HSI agents. He had bought an airline ticket for a flight to Turkey.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
