After dawn on October 19, motorist Joe Fryman and his son-in-law David O'Hanlon passed by, observing two men dressed in suits lying by the roadside. They thought it suspicious and informed Wellsville, Ohio police chief John H. Fultz. Fultz investigated with officers Grover Potts and William Erwin. Richetti saw the lawmen and fled into the woods, pursued by two officers, while Fultz went towards Floyd. Floyd immediately drew his gun and fired, and he and Fultz engaged one another in a gunfight, during which Fultz was wounded in the foot and Potts was wounded in the right shoulder, and Floyd then fled into the forest. The other two officers enlisted the help of local police officer Chester C. Smith (February 14, 1895 – October 23, 1984), who had been a sniper during World War I, and they captured Richetti. Floyd remained on the run.