Clark County Municipal Court records show Brinsley was arrested in June 2009 on a second-degree felony robbery charge, and again in September on a felony warrant out of Cuyahoga County.
Brinsley was 22 when he was arrested just before 4 p.m. June 23, 2009, at the Executive Inn, 325 W. Columbia St.
Springfield police tracked him there moments after he allegedly shoplifted a digital 75-watt power converter and 24 Skyn and Trojan brand condoms from Rite Aid, 401 W. North St.
Brinsley reportedly tried to leave the store without paying when two employees tried to stop him. A piece of Brinsley’s light green shirt was ripped off during the scuffle. The material was left behind when he ran toward the hotel, according to the arrest report and an affidavit filed through Clark County Municipal Court.
Police found Brinsley in an upstairs hallway by the laundry room “attempting to undo the braids that he had in his hair,” the affidavit read. Inside a washing machine, police found a ripped green shirt.
The two Rite Aid employees identified Brinsley as the thief. They said they saw Brinsley open a package of scissors at the store, used the item to cut the package to a power inverter, and then put the inverter inside his back pants pocket. He also was seen placing condoms inside his front pants pocket, according to court documents.
The case was later dismissed, but it was not clear why.
On Sept. 3, 2009, Brinsley was arrested a second time in Springfield on a warrant for felony theft and possessing criminal tools issued by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office. The following day, Brinsley signed a waiver, agreeing to be transferred into Cuyahoga County’s custody.
Brinsley’s address was listed as at large the first time he was arrested. Authorities in New York said Brinsley had ties to Brooklyn, but that his last known address was in Georgia. A Union City, Ga., residence in the Atlanta metro area was noted on Brinsley’s September 2009 arrest report in Springfield. Also recorded on that report was Brinsley’s birthplace of New York, N.Y.
Brinsley shot and wounded his ex-girlfriend before 6 a.m. Saturday at an apartment near Baltimore, then posted anti-law enforcement messages on social media as he traveled to Brooklyn, according to police authorities in Maryland and New York.
“They were, quite simply, assassinated — targeted for their uniform,” said New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who looked pale and shaken at a hospital news conference.
According to news reports Ramos had been on the job since 2012. He was married, had a 13-year-old son and another son in college. Liu had been on the job for seven years and got married two months ago.
Baltimore County police on Sunday identified Brinsley’s ex-girlfriend as Shaneka Nicole Thompson, 29. Police said she was listed in critical but stable condition at an area hospital. She is expected to survive, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun. Detectives haven’t been able to interview her because of her condition, police said. Detectives hope to interview her as soon as her condition improves. Police said they still don’t know why Brinsley shot Thompson. They believe he has no ties to the Baltimore area except to her.
FIRST REPORT
A gunman accused of ambushing and killing two New York City police officers before turning the gun on himself Saturday has ties to the area.
The suspect — identified as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley — announced on his social media account that he was planning to shoot two “pigs” in retaliation for the chokehold death of Eric Garner, the Associated Press reports.
Authorities said Brinsley ambushed two police officers in their patrol car in broad daylight and shot them to death before running to a subway station and killing himself, AP reported.
Brinsley, whose record indicates was born in New York, had been arrested several times in Georgia and Ohio.
He was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and stealing in Georgia.
Court records in Clark County, Ohio, show Springfield police charged Brinsley with felony robbery on June 24, 2009, but that charge was dismissed in September 2009. At the time the charges were filed, Brinsley’s address was listed as at large. Later that year he had a Union City, Ga., address, according to the Clark County court filing.
Before the shooting, Brinsley wrote on an Instagram account: “I’m putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let’s take 2 of theirs,” officials said. He used the hashtags Shootthepolice RIPErivGardner (sic) RIPMikeBrown.
Police said he approached the passenger window of a marked police car and opened fire, striking Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in the head.
Brinsley took off running and went down to a nearby subway station, where he shot himself. A silver handgun was recovered at the scene.
“This may be my final post,” he wrote in the Instagram post that included an image of a silver handgun.
Earlier Saturday, Brinsley went to the home of a former girlfriend in the Baltimore area and shot and wounded her at her home. Police there noticed Brinsley posting to the woman’s Instagram account about a threat to New York officers. Authorities in Baltimore had sent a warning flier to New York City police, but it wasn’t received until about the same time of the shooting, according to the AP report.