Four officers fired at a man after he rammed his car into their cruisers following a Tuesday night robbery and chase.
The four officers felt that their lives or the lives of other officers were in danger, said Lt. Darci Tierney, a police spokeswoman.
After a wild chase, officers stopped a suspect's car by ramming it near 84th Street and Interstate 80. The suspect - William J. Worley, 43, of 5732 N. 33rd Ave. - then began ramming his car into two cruisers, police said.
Video from the Scene:
One of the officers had exited his cruiser and was stuck by the cruiser when the suspect's car rammed it. That officer did not sustain serious injuries.
Worley was shot multiple times and was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, where he was in stable condition early Wednesday, according to police.
It doesn't appear that Worley fired at officers but that remains under investigation. Police recovered a pellet gun from Worley's car that they believe was used in the robbery.
The officers were: Anna Doyle, 43 and a 19-year member of the Omaha force; Doug Johnson, 39, with OPD for 7½ years; Robert Wiley, 31, with OPD for 8½ years; and Steve Williams, 47, with the department for 20½ years. The officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation into the shooting.
Doyle also was the officer who shot and paralyzed former Nebraska football player Scott Baldwin in 1992.
Doyle shot Baldwin while she and another officer were attempting to put him in handcuffs while Baldwin was suffering a psychotic episode. Baldwin had taken off his clothes and was running through the streets of north Omaha. Baldwin, who had stopped taking his medication, was found ramming the glass door of a house at 30th and Pratt Streets.
A judge later rejected Baldwin's $1 million lawsuit against the City of Omaha but criticized Doyle and another officer, saying they didn't follow department policy and acted in direct violation of procedures for handling a mentally ill person.
The Tuesday night incident began shortly before 10 p.m., when police received a call that someone fired a gun during a robbery at the Kohl's department store near 72nd and Pacific Streets.
Two women fled from the store and got into a gold car waiting in the parking lot with its lights off. A security guard ran through the parking lot after the vehicle, which headed north on 72nd Street, according to a man who was waiting for his wife to get off from work at Kohl's.
A single bullet hole was visible on an interior door on the store's south side.
Two women - Patricia Lawson, 39, 10025 T Plaza No. 1, and Danielle Hamilton, 24, 2708 N. 83rd St. - were with Worley when his car was stopped and were arrested on suspicion of felony theft.
According to dispatch reports, police chased the car east on Dodge Street, at speeds up to about 60 mph, then through the Dundee and Ak-Sar-Ben neighborhoods to Center Street.
The fleeing car turned west on Center with several police cruisers in pursuit. Meanwhile, police scrambled to launch a helicopter, and plans were made to put out stop-sticks that would puncture the fleeing car's tires.
As the car turned onto 72nd Street, it pulled into the parking lot of the Shark Club. Someone inside the vehicle threw something out the window.
While some police officers searched the lot, others continued the chase to the southwest.
As the fleeing car approached the Interstate 80 ramps on 84th Street, officers received permission to ram it. As other police cars pulled back, two cruisers continued forward and rammed the vehicle, causing it to spin to a stop on the 84th Street ramp onto I-80.
At least two of the officers - Doyle and Wiley - have been nominated in the past as officers of the year.
Jim Masteller, a deputy Douglas County attorney, said that police are still gathering facts about what happened but that he expects charges to be filed against Worley in the next day or so.
He has served five sentences in Nebraska prisons since 1995. His convictions include third-degree assault on an officer, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a deadly weapon by a felon and, most recently, terroristic threats.
He last was released from prison in September 2009. A month later, authorities say he was involved in a theft in Council Bluffs. He was arrested by members of the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force in January for being a fugitive from justice. He waived extradition to Iowa in that case.
A bench warrant was issued for Worley last week after he failed to show up for a trial on charges of felony theft, felony conspiracy to commit theft and several misdemeanor charges.
World-Herald staff writers Rick Ruggles, Nancy Gaarder and Kirby Kaufman contributed to this report.
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