MAN FIRES WARNING SHOT

Elyria Police responded to a residence on East River just south of University Saturday night after a resident reported hearing shots fired. While Officers were on their way Jeffrey Rudnitskas called saying that he had arrived home and found an intruder in his residence. He stated that he chased the intruder out the rear of the residence and fired a warning shot into the ground with his 12-gauge shotgun.

When Officers arrived they found Rudnitskas standing in the driveway with the shotgun in his hand. Officers ordered him to place the weapon on the ground, which he did. Rudnitskas gave Officers the following account of what happened. He and his fiancée arrived home and observed that the dining room lights were on and he was sure that they had been turned off when they left. Having had break-ins in the past he thought that someone was in his home. Rudnitskas had his fiancée and infant child remain in the car while he and his dog entered the home. He snuck to his bedroom and got his shotgun and searched the house. When he got to the attached garage he said he found a male going through his toolbox. The intruder then ran out of the back door and continued eastbound toward Michigan Ave. Rudnitskas stated he chased the suspect to the foot of his porch where he (Rudnitskas) fired a warning shot into the ground. He then went back inside and phoned the Police.

Rudnitskas described the intruder as a white male wearing all black and carrying a 9mm handgun.

Elyria Police Officer Rick Walker and his K-9 arrived a short time later to begin tracking the suspect. Officers did not observe any fresh footprints; the snow was perfectly in tact with no signs of any disturbance in the area. The K-9 was not alerting to anything either.

Jeffrey Rudnitskas

Officers returned to Rudnitskas and advised him that the lack of evidence did not support his version of the incident. Moments later Rudnitskas finally admitted that there was no intruder. He stated that after arriving home and finding the light on doing a search of the home and not finding anyone, he went onto the back porch and fired a single shot into the ground to scare off any “potential intruder”. He said after firing the shot he called the Police and made up the story of the armed intruder.

Rudnitskas was charged with Inducing Panic M-1, Discharging a Firearm M-4 and Falsification M-1. Officers removed the shotgun and one other rifle from the home as evidence along with the spent shotgun shell.