Columbus Police detective indicted for hit-and-run crash that killed pedestrian

COLUMBUS — A Columbus Police detective was indicted Wednesday after hitting a female pedestrian, then fleeing the scene back in 2022.

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The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office announced that a Columbus Police detective was indicted for fleeing the scene after hitting and killing a 30-year-old woman on April 20, 2022.

Naimo Abdirahman was crossing the street near the intersection of Morse Road and Walford Street at around 2:40 a.m. when she was hit by a vehicle that then fled the scene, WCPO reported.

When officers arrived, Abdirahman was pronounced dead at the scene, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office stated.

Following an investigation of the crash, the Columbus Police Department was able to determine that their own Detective Demetris Ortega, 49, was the suspect, according to the spokesperson. He was not driving a police cruiser at the time.

Further investigation found that Ortega was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, the spokesperson said.

As a result, he was indicted on one felony charge of failure to stop after an accident and a misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them.

The prosecutor’s office said detectives were not able to conclusively determine the victim’s location at the time of the crash and Ortega’s culpability, which “is an essential element of a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide or vehicular homicide.”

Ortega was relieved of duty shortly after the crash, WCPO reported.

Ortega is scheduled to be arraigned on May 10 at 1 p.m.

“We were made aware of the indictment earlier today. We plan on entering a not guilty plea at his arraignment,” Ortega’s defense attorney said.

Ortega has been previously charged and suspended for an OVI crash in 2015. Ortega pleaded guilty on Feb. 9, 2016, according to court records. He was fined $375 and given one-year probation.

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