Man convicted of running over 2 women in 2008 released from prison nearly 2 years early

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The man convicted of running over two women in the Short North back in 2008 will be getting out of prison nearly two years early.

The victims survived but suffered life-changing injuries. Now, they fear retaliation.

Paul Liu was the owner of Haiku Poetic Food and Art. He ran the restaurant with his wife Julie Liu.

"You had the worst day in your life. Every time you think about it, it seems like it happened yesterday," Liu said.

His memories are still vivid from the night Julie and Rachel Widomski, a bartender at the time, were brutally run over in a nearby parking lot.

Liu described the ambulance ride with his wife.

"We got the siren going, and I say, 'why are we not going fast,' and they told me that she’s so broken that it might kill her. That’s when it dawned on me that her life was just on the balance, on the edge," Liu said.

A customer at Haiku, Michael Rose ran out on his $101 bar tab. When both women chased after him, he ran them over and took off.

Julie was left with extensive injuries, broken bones, and a traumatic brain injury. She continues to live short-term memory loss 13-years later.

Widomski was paralyzed from the waist down. Her spine was severed in multiple locations, along with broken ribs, and punctured lungs. She had to undergo a 10+ hour surgery to remove the fragments of bone and was in a medically induced coma for weeks on a ventilator.

"Every element of life has to be re-learned, from how to sit up on your own and put on a sock, to leaning to accept and navigate the constant barriers faced each day," Widomski said. "All challenges have a common denominator... access. Access to the life everyone else takes for granted and the ability to move freely in the world."

"Beautiful young lady, graduate school, and then this thing happens," Liu said.

Days after, Rose was arrested and later that year plead guilty to aggravated robbery and four counts of aggravated vehicular assault.

He's 13 years into his 15 year prison sentence. On Thursday, Judge Munson granted him judicial release nearly 2 years early.

"I don’t think the root of the problem is solved. I don’t think for him to have disregard for people, for rule, for society, to have that kind of mentality, it’s a killer instinct and that has not been addressed," Liu said.

In a motion filed in February, Rose's attorney counted his low likelihood to commit more crimes, sobriety, and participation in behavioral programs as reasons for seeking his early release. Liu counts that as injustice after having expected Rose would serve the full term.

"We have two victims who are still suffering, who are still paying the price of this crime, and then we have a judge who wants social reform, which is fine, but was it reform? Was there evidence of reform? I don’t see it," Liu said.

Rachel Widomski said she believes there are many people in prison who should not be there and deserve a chance to reform their life and rejoin society, but not Rose.

Widomski said she agreed to the plea deal in 2008 for 15 years, she did so under the assurance that Rose would not get out or be eligible for parole.

"He also agreed to this deal, yet has consistently tried to cut his time short," Widomski said.

After getting out, Rose will serve five years of community control.

When asked if she fears retaliation, Widomski said she thinks he is capable of anything.

"At some point, the narrative of the inmate has been that this incident was about his alcoholism, not the psyche of a person who is capable of running down two women and leaving them for dead," Widomski said.

"I just see the pain in my wife, the pain in Rachel, every time I see her," Liu said. "What's funny is they feel more pain for each other, for the other person than they do for themselves. Every time I talk to my wife about it, she’s worried about Rachel, and every time I see Rachel she’s worried about my wife, and I think it’s beautiful, but it’s just so sad," Liu said.

When asked to describe her outlook on life now, Widomski said this:

This life changing event has made me grounded, literally, and psychologically, and I hold onto the light that I have found through the journey. Most people do not find their authentic state of being until late in life, they do not get the gift of forced self-reflection as I did.