Alonzo Smith

Police Officer Garry Taylor's Story

UPDATE: Attempted murderer Alonzo Smith died in prison on April 3, 2016. Thank you to everyone who submitted a petition to help ensure he fulfilled his full sentence. Justice has been served.

An Armed Robbery

On Friday, August 23, 2002, career criminal Alonzo Smith walked into a Subway Sandwich Shop during the busy lunch rush armed with a revolver. Smith walked up to the assistant store manager, pointed the gun at him and told the man to hand over the store’s money. The observant assistant store manager looked at the gun cylinder and realized Smith had forgotten to load the gun. The assistant manager then told Smith he did not have access to the store’s money.

Smith turned and pointed the gun at the nearest person, a woman who had come to the shop to buy lunch. Smith told the busy restaurant patrons, “Everybody drop your purses or I’m going to shoot this woman.” The patrons, who did not know the gun was not loaded, dropped their purses. Smith put the purses into a garbage bag and fled out of the front door of the restaurant.

The assistant manager, knowing the gun was not loaded, went out the back door to confront Smith. When Smith ran around the corner of the building, the assistant manager punched him as hard as he could in the jaw. Smith staggered and somehow managed to get to his car that was located in an alley behind the store. Before Smith could drive away, the assistant store manger grabbed the heavy metal lock from the Subway’s back door and threw it at Smith’s vehicle. It shattered the back window. Smith then sped off.

The assistant store manager went back into the shop and called police. Based on his description of the vehicle and the fact the back window was broken, police were able to locate the vehicle two miles away in a driveway at a home on Wick Avenue.

Police Under Fire

When Columbus Police Officer Garry Taylor walked to the front door of the home and knocked on the door, a gunshot was fired at him. Fortunately, the bullet missed its intended target. Smith had apparently realized the gun was not loaded and found time to load the gun after arriving at the house.

Smith called police and advised them he had he had two female hostages inside the house. The SWAT team was then called to the scene. As more Columbus Police Officers arrived on the scene, Smith continued to fire shots from inside the house. Smith eventually released the female hostages through the front door. Smith then bolted out the front door and ran behind the house.

Smith ran to a church parking lot a few blocks away with five Columbus Ohio Police Officers following behind him. Smith turned around and began firing at the officers. The officers returned fire and shot Smith before he could shoot or kill any of the police officers.

A Guilty Plea

Smith went to the hospital and was eventually taken to jail. For his part in the Subway robbery, Smith was indicted on eight counts of robbery, four counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of kidnapping and one count of having a weapon under disability (carrying a weapon while on parole). He was also charged with one count of felonious assault for shooting at and attempting to kill Columbus Police Officer Garry Taylor.

Smith pled guilty to one count of aggravated robbery and one count of felonious assault for attempting to shoot and kill Officer Taylor. Smith received a stated term of nine years for these crimes.

Career Criminal

By the time Alonzo Smith was arrested for the Subway robbery and attempting to kill Officer Taylor, he had spent 20 of the previous 21 years in prison. He had also been given multiple paroles and opportunities to rehabilitate himself. His crime timeline:

• 3/10/80: Sentenced from 6 months to five years in prison for possessing criminal tools and breaking and entering.
• 8/11/80: Paroled after serving only five months of his five-year sentence.
• 3/17/81: While on parole, Smith was brought back to prison after being convicted of three counts of aggravated robbery. Smith was given an additional 6-25 years in prison. Added to his previous crimes, this brought his new time total to 6.5 to 30 years.
• 12/24/85: Smith is paroled AGAIN. He had only served only four years and five months of his 30-year maximum sentence.
• 4/8/86: While on parole, Smith is brought back to prison for receiving stolen property. He received a one-year stated sentence in addition to his previous 6.5 to 30 years.
• 8/21/89: Smith is paroled AGAIN. Now he had served his one year stated sentence, only 8.5 years on his original 30-year maximum sentence.
• 6/14/90: While on parole, Smith is sentenced to prison again, this time for charges of felonious assault and aggravated robbery. He receives a sentence of 7-25 years. His new prison sentence total is 13.5 to 55 years in prison.
• 1/31/02: Smith is paroled for a fourth time. Now he has served 20 years of his 55-year sentence.
• 7/16/03: While on parole, Smith is returned to prison for the instant offenses of robbing the Subway Sandwich Shop and shooting at Columbus Police Officer Garry Taylor. In addition to his original 13.5 to 55 years, Smith receives a six-year stated prison term, plus three additional years for using a gun during a robbery. This brings Smith’s total aggregate sentence to 13.5 to 64 years in prison.

No Parole

Alonzo Smith has made it clear he has no respect for the law. In addition, his actions prove he has no problem shooting and trying to kill police officers. Before shooting at five Columbus Police Officers Smith spent 20 of the last 21 years in prison for various crimes. Smith was given huge breaks when he was paroled four different times. Rather than change his life for the better, Smith almost immediately went back to his life of crime each, and every time, he was released from prison. Inmates who shoot and attempt to kill police officers do not belong on the streets. This is especially true for inmates who repeatedly commit crimes after being paroled multiple times. Releasing Alonzo Smith would present a tremendous risk to both law enforcement and society. Based on the fact Alonzo Smith is a career criminal who four times has failed miserably while on parole and the fact Alonzo Smith attempted to kill five Columbus Police Officers, we believe Alonzo Smith should serve his maximum sentence of 58 years in prison.