Grand Jury

LISBON — An East Liverpool man listed as homeless on court records who allegedly pulled a gun on another man at a gas station and demanded his car keys was one of 18 defendants openly indicted by the Columbiana County Grand Jury this week.

The grand jury met for two days and issued 20 open indictments (18 defendants), 29 secret indictments and one no bill of indictment, meaning they chose not to indict one defendant. The secret indictments won’t be made public until defendants are served with the paperwork.

Brenston T. Thompkins, 29, listed as homeless, East Liverpool, was charged in two separate indictments. Charges included first-degree felony aggravated robbery, with a firearm specification, third-degree felony having weapons while under disability, and fourth-degree felony trespass in a habitation when a person is present or likely to be present. On June 13, Thompkins allegedly pulled a gun out at the BP gas station in East Liverpool and advised another man to give him his car keys and possibly struck the man with the handgun. He wasn’t permitted to have a firearm due to a previous conviction. On Dec. 13, 2023, he allegedly knocked an air conditioner out of a window, reached in and unlocked the front door of an East Liverpool residence, trespassing in a woman’s apartment.

Other defendants issued open indictments were:

— Zachary Paxson, 46, Skyline Drive, Wellsville, fourth-degree felony strangulation and misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly striking a woman in the face, pushing her against a wall causing injury to her face and forehead and choking her, causing her to almost lose consciousness on Aug. 21 in Wellsville.

— Joseph K. Jolly, 38, Dunn Road, East Liverpool, fourth-degree felonies of domestic violence and strangulation for allegedly shoving a woman backwards into a large mirror after an argument, then getting on top of her and holding her down by her neck, causing her to become short of breath on Aug. 29 in Madison Township.

— Kaden Desellem, 21, Black Road, Lisbon, fourth-degree felony domestic violence and misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly punching a man in the chin on Sept. 1 in Salineville.

— Steven Watters II, 46, Depot Road, Salem, fifth-degree felony failure to stop after an accident for allegedly fleeing the scene of an accident on May 25 in Center Township.

— Knowledgeborn FJ Price, 48, Pennsylvania Avenue, East Liverpool, third-degree felony having weapons under disability, two counts fourth-degree felony operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them and fifth-degree felony improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. The charges stem from a traffic stop April 7 in East Liverpool when he allegedly possessed a loaded gun and was under the influence. Due to a previous conviction, he’s prohibited from having a gun.

— Corey A. Schutte, 30, Uniontown, fourth-degree felonies of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them for an alleged traffic stop on Aug. 2 when he was allegedly impaired and had three prior OVI convictions in 2023, 2020 and 2017.

— Hayden Maxwell Wright, 35, St. George Street, East Liverpool, third-degree felony failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer for fleeing from police on Nov. 28, 2023. In a separate indictment, he was charged with third-degree felonies of aggravated possession of drugs and tampering with evidence and misdemeanors of resisting arrest and obstructing official business. During a traffic stop on July 9 in East Liverpool, Wright was a passenger and was refusing to give his name after being asked by police several times, then was later recognized by an officer. He also refused to step out of the vehicle to be patted down for weapons, resulting in officers assisting him out of the vehicle. He attempted to pull away and thrashed around and was taken to the ground for officer safety to place handcuffs on him. He allegedly dropped a bag of suspected methamphetamine on the ground and denied the drugs were his.

— Justin Novak, 42, Stump Road, Minerva, fifth-degree felony improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and two counts misdemeanor operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them. Novak allegedly possessed a loaded handgun in the the vehicle he was driving impaired on June 9 in Salem.

— Joseph Hakala, 30, East Washington Street, Lisbon, third-degree felony failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and misdemeanor driving under suspension for allegedly fleeing from an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper attempting a traffic stop in Madison Township, reaching speeds of 100 mph and fleeing into West Virginia on Aug. 14.

— Rachael Butler, 60, Chagrin Falls, third-degree felony failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer for allegedly fleeing from Salem police attempting a traffic stop on Aug. 28.

— Michael Henderson, 60, West Main Street, East Palestine, fifth-degree felony telecommunications harassment for allegedly sending threatening text messages to a man on Jan. 27 in Perry Township.

— Justina Desarro, 34, Curry Street, East Liverpool, fourth-degree felony trespass when a person is present or likely to be present and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia for allegedly entering a residence in St. Clair Township without permission on Sept. 4 while the resident was sleeping. Desarro also allegedly possessed a paper fold being used as a container to hold an unknown powder inside her purse when placed under arrest.

— Valorie Hammond, 35, Knoxville, Tenn, third-degree felony escape, fifth-degree felonies of theft and possessing criminal tools and misdemeanor obstructing official business for an incident April 9 in Calcutta when she stole $2,295 worth of merchandise from Dunham Sports in a duffle bag. She tried to flee when police arrived.

— Arthur Gingher, 54, Hofmeister Road, Petersburg, fifth-degree felonies of possessing criminal tools, vandalism and three counts tampering with coin machines, and misdemeanor criminal damaging for allegedly breaking into gaming machines at a laundromat in East Palestine on Aug. 10 and using some sort of pry bar to break the locks on three separate coin-activated gaming machines, then stealing $30 to $40 in quarters.

— Rusty R. Altman, 51, Cream Ridge Road, Lisbon, two counts violation of a protection order, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly entering a protected person’s Lisbon property, knocking on his door and calling him outside on Sept. 14, in violation of a protection order.

— Michael D. Proctor, 55, Rochester Road, East Rochester, misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly tampering with another man’s car tire on Sept. 2 in East Rochester.

— Perry Allen Ross, 29, West Fourth Street, East Liverpool, fifth-degree felony arson registration violation for allegedly failing to register or re-register on Aug. 6 as required due to a previous conviction of arson.

Common Pleas

New Cases

Crystal Bates, Continental Drive, Salem, vs. Robert Kaiser, North Georgetown; divorce sought.

Docket Entries

Christopher McQuiston vs. Monica McQuiston; divorce granted.

U.S. Bank National Association vs. Candace Kirbaugh, et al.; mortgage foreclosure ordered for East Palestine property.

Ak Environmental Consulting LLC vs. Allison Contracting LLC; all claims and counterclaims dismissed.

County Treasurer vs. Gladys McCune, et al.; foreclosure held in abeyance pending completion of payment plan.

County Treasurer vs. Thomas Fitch, et al.; complaint dismissed.

Court News

LISBON–A Kensington man pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated possession of drugs.

Christopher Ewing, 40, state Route 644, Kensington, pleaded guilty to two counts of fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs, one of which has a specification of forfeiture of money in a drug case. The specified charge was for possessing methamphetamine on Sept. 10, 2021, and the unspecified charge was also for possessing methamphetamine on Oct. 23, 2023. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2.

Also in common pleas court:

— Rusty Boyer, 24, Washington Street, Washingtonville, was sentenced to nine months in prison for violating his probation for a fifth-degree felony charge of aggravated possession of drugs, receiving credit for 165 days already served. Boyer possessed methamphetamine on Dec. 24, 2021 in an amount equal or greater than five times bulk, but less than 50 times bulk. His community control was dishonorably terminated.

Municipal

LISBON — A preliminary hearing was set Oct. 21 for Michael Young, 43, Ravine Street, East Liverpool, charged with fifth-degree felony unauthorized use of a motor vehicle for allegedly taking a vehicle owned by another person to Tennessee for four days without permission to keep the vehicle for that period of time nor to take it out of the state of Ohio.

Stephen Perry, 30, Boardman, was sentenced to 50 days in jail with credit for 15 days leaving a balance of 35 days to serve in jail for violation of a protection order for contacting the protected party by phone calls, text messages, and social media on September 16, 2023.

Dominic Walker, 23, Broadway Avenue, Wellsville, was fined $350 for driving under suspension and unauthorized plate.

Angela Tondo, 36, Cedar Ridge Drive, Salem, was fined $400 and sentenced to 30 days in jail for operating a vehicle while impaired and driving while texting.

A pretrial was set Oct. 21 for Dylan Bredeck, 23, Park Way, East Liverpool, charged with domestic violence, resisting arrest, obstructing official business, drug paraphernalia, and use of unauthorized plate. The charge of domestic violence stems from an incident when Bredeck allegedly became enraged with a woman for removing drugs from his jeans while he was asleep and struck her with a children’s bicycle, ripped hair out of her head, and slammed her head to the wood floor in East Liverpool on Sept. 22. The charges of resisting arrest, obstruction of official business, and drug paraphernalia stem from a traffic stop in state Route 267 on Oct. 10, when Bredeck allegedly fled from the vehicle on foot, being located hiding near a fence in a backyard, failed to comply with orders to the ground causing him to be tased, and an inventory search of his vehicle prior to tow located a burnt pipe with residue.

A pretrial was set Jan. 21 for Joshua Gallimore, 36, East Liverpool Road, Lisbon, charged with theft, disorderly conduct, possession of drug abuse instruments, driving under suspension, forfeiture, and expired registration. The charges of theft and disorderly conduct stem from an incident when Gallimore allegedly concealed two items totaling $8.25 under his clothing in an attempt to take them without paying while under the influence of an illegal narcotic at a West State Street business on July 22, in East Liverpool; the charge of drug abuse instruments stem from an incident when Gallimore allegedly possessed a used hypodermic needle during a traffic stop on Aug. 19 in Madison Township.

A pretrial was set Oct. 24, for John Scragg, 45, West Main Street, New Waterford, charged with aggravated menacing for allegedly sending messages to a couple threatening the livelihood of the husband on Sept. 28.

A pretrial was set Jan. 16 for Joseph Adams, 47, Holiday Street, East Liverpool, charged with driving under suspension.

A pretrial was set Jan. 23 for Kaleb Dailey, 23, New Cumberland, West Virginia, charged with OVI first offense, and traffic control devices.