Ramirez
An Indianapolis man who was charged with multiple felonies following a manhunt and police-action shooting in Bargersville last December has been sentenced to three years in a correctional facility.
Efrain Ramirez, 46, pleaded guilty in Johnson County Circuit Court Monday to four counts of pointing a firearm, three counts of resisting law enforcement and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien, all Level 6 felonies. He was sentenced to three years, all to be executed, in a correctional facility. Ramirez received a jail credit of 199 days, so his remaining time to be served is approximately 2.5 years.
Upon completing his sentence, Ramirez will be deported to Mexico as he has an immigration hold, Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said Monday afternoon.
The chain of events that led to the police-action shooting — and later Ramirez’s arrest — began about 9:26 p.m. Dec. 9, when Bargersville police observed a driver fail to signal a turn near State Road 135 and Whiteland Road. Police pulled over the truck near Saddle Club Road and Morningside Drive because they believed the driver was behaving oddly, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in December.
When police spoke with the driver of the truck, later identified as Ramirez, he told them he did not have a license, and they could smell a strong alcoholic odor coming from him. Police asked him if he had consumed alcohol and he said “no,” according to court documents.
Ramirez wrote down a fake name for police, said he did not know his date of birth, and that he had an ID from Mexico in his truck. Police asked him to get the ID. He allegedly looked through several papers in his truck, looked back at police, started his car and fled the scene. Police later identified the driver as Ramirez through fingerprints, court documents said.
Police pursued Ramirez through the Morningside neighborhood and into downtown Bargersville before he got out of his vehicle near a home on Old Plank Road. Police continued to pursue Ramirez on foot, and one officer saw Ramirez point a gun at her and heard a click at the same time. The officer said later the area was not well-lit when she saw the gun. A second officer saw Ramirez carrying a silver gun with his hand on the trigger. Ramirez refused to stop and officers lost sight of him for several hours, according to court documents.
The following morning, on Dec. 10, Bargersville police were joined by deputies from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and an Indiana State Police trooper to help find Ramirez after a Bargersville officer saw a man matching his description near the intersection of Old Plank Road and Short Street. When the officer confronted him, he ran, court documents show.
Officers eventually found Ramirez running through the backyards of several homes on Old Trail Drive. A sheriff’s deputy ran into Ramirez and asked him to stop at gunpoint. Ramirez drew a weapon and pointed it at himself, then backed away from the deputy before pointing it at the deputy. The deputy fired three shots at Ramirez as he fled the yard. A state police trooper then ran into Ramirez and asked him to drop the gun, and Ramirez pointed the gun at him. The trooper fired 11 shots at Ramirez, and he dropped to the ground, according to court documents.
Ramirez attempted to stand up, and officers asked him to stay on the ground. When sheriff’s deputies attempted to place Ramirez in handcuffs, he resisted, and law enforcement tased him. Officers recovered a handgun from where Ramirez had dropped to the ground, court documents show.
The sheriff’s deputy was wearing a body camera, but the state trooper was not, according to court documents.
Ramirez was arrested and taken to an area hospital for treatment following the incident.
Officers searched the truck Ramirez was driving and found ammunition, an unloaded rifle, full and empty beer bottles and receipts with two different names on them, court documents show.
Indiana State Police was asked to lead the investigation due to the involvement of multiple agencies. The agency is often consulted in situations involving officer-involved shootings, officials said in a news release at the time.
The two law enforcement officers who fired shots at Ramirez were placed on administrative duty after the incident as the investigation continued. The officers were identified as sheriff’s deputy Steve Love, an 11-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, and state police Sgt. Thomas Burgett, a 14-year member of the force, officials said at the time.
Both Love and Burgett acted within their legal rights to use deadly force as a means of self-defense, and neither one of them faces any kind of criminal charges, Villanueva told the Daily Journal Monday.
“This case should serve as another example of our intent to hold those who endanger the lives of our police officers accountable,” Villanueva said. “The actions of Mr. Ramirez could have resulted in injury to a number of others. Fortunately, the only person injured was the person who caused all the problems in the first place, and that’s Mr. Ramirez.”
