Carjacking suspect shot, killed by police in Germantown

Around 11 p.m. Saturday, two 14th District police officers attempted to stop a 28-year-old man riding an ATV in the 2000 block of Nedro St., but he took off running. During the subsequent chase, LaSean Rinehart allegedly carjacked a Chinese restaurant deliveryman around the corner on Kemble St., struck one officer with the car, attempted to strike the other and was fatally shot once in the stomach.

“The [deliveryman] was getting out of his car and [Rinehart] pushed him out of the way. There was an officer in front of the car. When he drove forward, the officer landed on the hood and windshield. When he got back to his feet, he fired two shots,” police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers said.

Then, Rinehart put the car into reverse and drove toward the other officer, who fired a single shot. Rinehart was then taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he was declared dead at 11:42 p.m. The officer was also treated there for multiple bruises and a leg injury and released.

Both officers involved have been placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation, Evers said. It remains unclear which officer fired the fatal shot. Investigators are currently looking into whether the ATV was stolen.

Rinehart had six prior arrests, three of which were for weapons offenses, police said.

Court records show he had a burglary case pending from a July 19 arrest in Montgomery County. In 2001, a case in which he was charged with carrying firearms without a license and fleeing from a police officer were dismissed. He pleaded guilty to carrying firearms without a license in 2002 and received a three-year sentence, but was arrested less than two years later on a similar charge that was dismissed.

He was not carrying a weapon at the time of Saturday’s incident.