The Trumbull County Grand Jury will consider the case of a former Warren Police officer charged after Niles police say he tried to flee from officers and allegedly pointed a gun at two of them.

Jeffrey R. Hoolihan, 60, waived his preliminary hearing in Niles Municipal Court on Thursday. A charge of inducing panic was bound over to the grand jury. 

Charges of fleeing and eluding police, and using a weapon while intoxicated were dismissed, according to court records.

The case stems from an incident late last Friday when a Niles police officer was called to Stepney Street to investigate a disturbance involving Hoolihan.

According to a police report, as the officer spoke to a neighbor, Hoolihan came out of his home and began walking toward his pickup truck.

When a woman said Hoolihan was carrying a gun, the officer took cover and called for backup.

As other officers arrived, Hoolihan drove off, stopping a few yards away.

Obeying the officer’s orders over a loudspeaker, Hoolihan exited the truck with his hands on his head but then turned around and got back in the truck.

Police say they couldn’t see inside the truck because of its tinted windows.

The police report says Hoolihan when it appeared that Hoolihan was heading back toward his home, they placed spiked strips at Phillips and South Rhodes Avenue, flattening all four tires of the truck.

The report states that Hoolihan came out of the truck holding a revolver, at one point briefly pointing it in the direction of two of the officers.

 

 After refusing police orders to drop the gun, Hoolihan began to climb back into the driver’s seat.  That’s when an officer fired two non-lethal bean bag rounds at Hoolihan’s back, causing him to drop the gun and fall to the ground.

Officers handcuffed Hoolihan and collected the loaded revolver as evidence.

Hoolihan, who was taken to Trumbull Regional Hospital for observation, told an officer that he has been taking medication for health issues.

Investigators took photos of Hoolihan’s back which exhibited two bruises from where the bean bag rounds struck him.

Hoolihan remains free on $5,000 bond.