By Eric Faulds & James Massara
CCN Staff

GALION — The 911 audio of a woman being held at gun point has been obtained by Crawford County Now. The incident led to the arrest of a Crawford County Sheriff Deputy corrections officer.

During the 911 call on July 9, the caller identifies himself as Deputy (Jason) Tupps of the Crawford County Sheriff Office, off-duty, but in uniform.  Tupps reported to the dispatcher that a woman “rammed” his vehicle on Crawford-Morrow Line Road. Tupps then followed the individual to the 300 block of Kroft Street.

Tupps can be heard ordering the driver out of her vehicle at gunpoint and telling her, “Don’t move! l will shoot!”

The audio can be heard below, edited to improve sound quality and combine audio clips from CCSO and Galion PD dispatch offices.

While describing the incident to the dispatcher, Tupps can be heard saying the driver “…locked her brakes up and I slammed into the back of her…” He then claims that she rammed into the front of his vehicle and fled the scene.

Galion PD officers responded to the 911 call and subsequently arrested Tupps on suspicion of a DUI. Tupps was transported to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.

In a press release, Stone Law Firm founder Adam Stone said his firm was hired by Tupps to handle his case, and “to defend him against the allegations made by the Galion Police Department and reported by media sources.”

According to Crawford County Municipal Court records, Jason M. Tupps is charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, having a weapon while intoxicated and aggravated menacing.

Earlier this year, Tupps pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct in January and paid a waiver in municipal court.

Stone said in the release he is convinced of his client’s innocence.

“Officer Tupps is not guilty of the charges against him,” Stone said in defense of his client. “We have serious questions about the manner in which this case was handled by the Galion Police Department and are investigating those issues presently.”

Stone said he believes Tupps has served his community with distinction for decades, handling the difficult and oftentimes thankless work at the Crawford County Jail.

“The charges against Mr. Tupps, are false and egregious, and were reported entirely out of context. We look forward to defending our client and fully expect to successfully try this case to a jury in the coming weeks to exonerate him and allow him to put this sad, unfortunate situation behind him,” Stone said.

When Crawford County Now staff sought an answer to what mishandling of the case by GPD he believed took place, Stone said he had no comment further than the release made on behalf of his firm.

According to a record search of the Crawford County Municipal Court database, a pretrial is scheduled for Tupps on July 24 at 11 a.m.

Kimberly Gasuras contributed to this article.