Man suspected of killing off-duty officer is arrested

1/10/2005

COLUMBUS - Police responding to a reported domestic disturbance yesterday arrested the man suspected of killing a police officer during an attempted bank robbery.

Officers who entered the home about 9:20 a.m. recognized Daryl Martez Lawrence, who did not resist arrest, police said in a news release.

Police said Mr. Lawrence is a suspect in Thursday's shooting of Officer Bryan Hurst, 33, who was killed while working off duty as a guard at a bank. Mr. Hurst grew up in the Toledo area and graduated from Maumee High School in 1990.

Police said Mr. Lawrence, 29, was cooperating with investigators, but declined to answer questions.

Authorities identified Mr. Lawrence as a suspect on Saturday. Mr. Lawrence fled a Washington hospital on Friday while a police officer checked his story that he needed treatment because he was shot during a robbery.

The FBI filed an arrest warrant for Mr. Lawrence on a federal bank robbery charge, and Washington police have charged him with filing a false police report.

Officer Hurst attended the University of Toledo and was a 1996 graduate of the Columbus Police Academy. He served with the Columbus Police Division for about eight years. He was working as a patrol officer and was preparing to take a new assignment as a detective in the department's juvenile bureau.