Ex-Cop Harton Indicted

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Former Columbus Police Officer Hermando Harton was indicted Wednesday for his involvement in an Aug. 2 murder and standoff, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien announced.

Harton (pictured, right) is suspected of killing his wife in their Hilliard home on Aug. 2. Investigators said that he took his four children, drove north on Interstate 71 and pulled off at a convenience store.

Surveillance cameras showed that Harton had two guns, one in each hand, and 911 tapes prove that he fired the weapons, a Columbus television station reported.

Some of those shots were allegedly pointed toward sheriff's deputies at the scene, police said.

Harton then allegedly stole a deputy's SUV and sped up I-71 into Ashland County, where he was stopped.

After hours of barricading himself inside the vehicle and brandishing the two weapons, Harton fled into a wooded median where he was shot three times by state troopers, the television station reported.

He is now paralyzed from the waist down, his attorney said.

Harton was indicted on eight counts, including aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and endangering children. He could face the death penalty if he is convicted on the murder charge, WCMH-TV reported.

Last month, Harton sued the Ohio Highway Patrol, claiming that he was unarmed when he fled into the woods.

The Ohio Highway Patrol said that when Harton entered the median, he pointed both guns at troopers who were already waiting for him in the woods. That's when they fired, investigators said.

The patrol issued a statement claiming that it stands by the troopers' decision to fire their weapons after they were forced to do so.

Harton is currently being housed in a skilled nursing facility in Cuyahoga County. A warrant has been issued for his arrest and he could be brought back to Columbus by Friday, WCMH reported.