WELLINGTON, Ohio — A 37-year-old man has been arrested and charged for his role in an incident that resulted in him being shot by a Wellington police officer in July.
According to the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, a Lorain County Grand Jury indicted Scott Bakker on two counts of Felonious Assault and a single count of Obstructing Official Business last week. On Tuesday morning, deputies received a copy of the indictment and located Bakker at a diner in Lagrange, Ohio, where he was taken into custody without incident.
Bakker was served with a copy of his indictment after being transported to the Lorain County Jail. A bond has been set at $15,000 cash/surety and $15,000 personal.
Bakker's arrest comes as the result of an incident that occurred on July 23 when officers were called to the scene of a disturbance. According to Wellington Mayor Hans Schneider, Bakker approached officers with a weapon.
The officers tried to use a taser to subdue Bakker, but when that did not work, one of the officers at the scene shot him in the stomach. He was airlifted to Metro Health Medical Center.
Days after the incident, officials in Wellington released bodycam footage showing the shooting, which occurred after Bakker approached police with a knife during an incident on Courtland Street. Wellington Police Chief Tim Barfield said during a press briefing that the police department had received several calls that day from a neighbor stating that someone was breaking glass next door and that officers have responded to calls for issues at that address 19 times since October of 2021 for a variety of reasons, including mental health.
"This is hard," Barfield said of the incident, which is only the second officer-involved shooting in the history of the Wellington Police Department, and the first since 1959. "I love my people. And to watch this happen to my people is hard. This is the part I don't think we get enough credit for. We're asked to do impossible things. We're asked to be superhuman."