Man sentenced to prison in relation to Tanger Outlets lockdown

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SUNBURY, Ohio (WCMH) – A Columbus man was sentenced to prison on Friday for domestic violence charges in relation to a September lockdown at Tanger Outlets in Sunbury. 

Brian Ford II, 27, was sentenced four years in prison in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. In March, he pleaded guilty to domestic violence, a third degree felony, with a one year firearm specification, having weapons under disability, a third degree felony, and violating a protection order, a first degree misdemeanor.

On Sept. 6, Delaware County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a domestic violence call at the Tanger Outlet Mall around 1:37 p.m. Ford had fought with the victim in the parking lot, before barricading himself inside the men’s restroom for about 15 to 20 minutes. In the stores around the bathroom, shoppers and employees were told to shelter in place, while stores in other parts of the center were evacuated.

Ford was apprehended by law enforcement at the scene, who discovered he had hid a loaded firearm in the drop ceiling of the bathroom. No one was injured. 

Ford has previous convictions of weapons charges in 2018 and tampering with evidence in 2021.