On Dec. 13, a Williamson County grand jury indicted John R. Fuston, 27, on two counts of attempted second degree murder, two counts of theft over $10,000, two counts of evading arrest, possession of stolen property over $1,000 and criminal impersonation. Fuston was arraigned at a hearing yesterday.

Fuston was shot on Oct. 8 by Fairview Police Sgt. J.R. Holt and Cpl. Phil Jarosz as he drove toward them in their own unmarked police car after being handcuffed and placed into the back seat.

Fuston sustained gunshot wounds to the head and right leg, but managed to drive for several miles before the officers caught up to him using a commandeered taxi cab.

Wanted for alleged vehicle theft and running from another officer who had pulled him over for speeding, Fuston was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and released from the hospital the next day.
Fairview Officer Pat Stockdale pulled Fuston over during the early morning hours of Oct. 8 for driving 72 mph in a 45 mph zone. Fuston jumped out of the car, a Jeep, and fled into a wooded area. A check of the Jeep's license plate revealed it had been stolen in Davidson County. Stockdale found Fuston's wallet and driver's license in the vehicle, and learned Fuston was wanted in Kentucky on weapons and drug charges.

Police dogs followed Fuston's trail to a residence on Horn Tavern Road, where the homeowner reported someone had just stolen his Chevy truck. The homeowner told police he had left a handgun inside the truck. Police later found the truck abandoned on Interstate 40 near mile marker 183, but the handgun was gone.

At about 1:50 p.m. the following day, the homeowner called police and reported that a suspicious man had gotten out of a taxi cab and was walking around the area where the truck had been stolen the night before.

"Maybe he went back for his wallet," Fairview Police Chief Terry Harris theorized.

The man walked around the house and got back into the cab. Detectives Holt and Jarosz pulled the cab over on Highway 96 West, near the Flying J Travel Plaza. The man in the car was identified as Fuston, but he gave the officers a fictitious name.

He was handcuffed and put into the back of the detectives unmarked unit, which did not have a screen between the front and rear seats. The detectives then called for a patrol car to take him to jail and went to the taxi cab to look for the missing gun.

"Somehow (Fuston) got his hands in front of him, and climbed over the front seat," Harris said. "He shifted the car into gear."

The detective yelled for Fuston to stop, but he punched the gas and was headed towards them when they opened fire.

Hit in the back of the head and the right thigh, Fuston continued to drive and crossed into Dickson County. The detectives took the taxi cab and began a pursuit of the stolen police car. The chase ended on Williamson County Line Road, where Fuston stopped and surrendered.

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