By CHRIS JACKETT
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – A resident shot himself in the leg while napping on the side of the Ohio Turnpike Dec. 20.
Ohio police said Mahmoud Ajaj, 30, was driving back from visiting family in New York with his wife and two children when they got tired and decided to pull over to the side of the road for a nap about 1:30 a.m.
Because his wife thought the area was unsafe, Ajaj pulled out a gun – for which he had a Michigan concealed weapons permit – and held it for protection as he fell asleep. Upon falling asleep, Ajaj accidentally squeezed the trigger and shot himself in the left leg, lodging the bullet in the driver’s door.
Because the family was in an unfamiliar area about 33 miles southeast of Toledo, near Sandusky, they drove to a nearby exit, where they met an ambulance and Ajaj was airlifted Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo.
Ajaj, who owns Dearborn Cab & Van, was treated and released from the medical center the same day.
No charges were immediately filed.
(Contact Chris Jackett at [email protected])