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Common Pleas
NEW CASES
Regina L. Ward, Pancake Clarkson Road, Negley, vs. Dollar General Corporation, Goodlettsville, Tenn. and Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Columbus; appeal of claim denial.
Finwise Bank, Chicago, Ill., vs. Jason Blystone, Ohio Avenue, East Liverpool; collection sought of alleged $4,093 debt.
Robert D. Trummer, Hampton Place, Salem, vs. Unemployment Compensation Review Commission, Columbus, et al.; appeal of claim denial.
LVNV Funding LLC, Greenville, S.C., vs. Jason Starcher, Hartley Road, Salem; collection sought of alleged $37,802 debt.
LVNV Funding LLC, Greenville, S.C. vs. Kenneth Williams, Pancake Clarkson Road, Rogers; collection sought of alleged $55,572 debt.
DOCKET ENTRIES
Fifth Third Bank vs. Ricksha Suggs Wise, et al.; mortgage foreclosure ordered for Aten Avenue, Wellsville property.
Howard Mitchell Jr. vs. Travel Net Transit LLC, et al.; case settled and dismissed.
County Treasurer vs. Cheryl Glass, executor of the estate of Carolyne Reeves, et al.; delinquent property taxes paid, case dismissed.
Grand Jury
LISBON -- Corey Snay, 32, Depot Road, Salem, was served Wednesday with a secret indictment issued by the Columbiana County Grand Jury for possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, for allegedly possessing alprazolam on July 19, 2025.
Court News
LISBON -- A former Rogers man accused of robbing a resident hosting a garage sale last year was sentenced to an indefinite term of two to three years in prison.
Lance Bishop, 20, Glasgow Road, Lisbon, who previously lived on Walnut Street, Rogers, entered a guilty plea earlier this summer to robbery, a second-degree felony. Charges of assault and theft, both misdemeanors, were expected to be dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Bishop appeared recently in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to face sentencing for the May 23, 2025 incident at a garage sale hosted by the victim in Rogers.
Bishop was accused of grabbing a money pouch from under the woman's arm, ripping it from her and attempting to leave on a bicycle, then running on foot with the pouch containing $300 and a cell phone. The woman suffered injuries to her arm, leg and belly area and received treatment at a hospital.
Also in Common Pleas Court:
-- Richard B. Pettinger, 58, Malvern, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, with credit for 154 days served, for aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony. He received a mandatory fine of $5,000. A charge of aggravated trafficking in drugs will be dismissed. Pettinger possessed methamphetamine on April 24, 2021.
-- Brittany Neely, 32, St. Clair Avenue, East Liverpool, was sentenced to 120 days in the county jail after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine, possession of heroin and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, all fifth-degree felonies. She received credit for three days served, leaving a balance of 117 days still to serve. The time was ordered to be served concurrent to any sentence out of Mahoning County. She also must forfeit $23 for a specification for forfeiture of money from a drug case. Neely possessed the $23 and cocaine, heroin and fentanyl on July 27, 2023.
Municipal
LISBON -- In Columbiana County Municipal Court, cases against Scott Eric Kopras, 34, Bradshaw Avenue, East Liverpool, were bound over to the county grand jury for third-degree felony strangulation and misdemeanors of assault and unlawful restraint for allegedly assaulting a woman and strangling her in East Liverpool on Sept. 22.
According to the police affidavit, the woman was in the parking lot of East Liverpool City Hospital and afraid to go inside after the defendant allegedly slapped her in the eye and started punching her with his fist, then grabbed her by the throat and began to strangle her. She said she couldn't breathe as she begged him to stop, he let her go briefly and then started punching her in the head until she was covered in blood, the affidavit said. The document also said he told her he didn't trust her to leave and she felt that she was not allowed to leave.
His bond had been set at $150,000 cash or surety and he was ordered to have no contact with the victim and possess no weapons or firearms. He was also fined $300 for driving under suspension and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with credit for six days served, leaving a balance of 54 days still to serve for violating the terms of his probation for a 2024 case of operating a vehicle impaired.
Christopher M. Chadwick, 27, Brooklyn Avenue, Salem, was fined $500 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 88 days suspended and credit for two days served for failure to comply amended from a felony to a misdemeanor. His license was suspended for 180 days, with driving privileges granted. He was recently found competent to stand trial. On July 26, 2026, he fled from a traffic stop on an ATV in Hanoverton.
A pretrial was set Oct. 14 for Robert Lee Vincent Garner, 30, Youngstown, charged with misdemeanors of endangering children and possessing criminal tools for an alleged incident related to responding to an undercover ad on a known prostitution website and offering to transport a woman to her sex-for-hire date in exchange for money and narcotics. A fifth-degree felony charge of attempted (related to alleged promoting prostitution according to the complaint) was dismissed without prejudice for the complaint being deficient, a judgment entry said after a preliminary hearing. Garner allegedly arrived in New Waterford in Unity Township on Sept. 19 to pick up the alleged woman, with his girlfriend, who was unaware, driving the vehicle with two children in the car. He had the phone used to make the arrangements in his possession.
A pretrial was set Oct. 7 for Darryl Michael Pudder, 53, West Main Street, New Waterford, charged with assault and endangering children for allegedly grabbing a child by the wrist and pulling the child, leaving marks and shoving the child in the stomach, hitting the wall and leaving marks in New Waterford on June 9, 2026.
A pretrial was set Oct. 7 for Eric Russell Adkins, 39, West Main Street, East Palestine, charged with domestic violence for allegedly pushing a relative who then pushed him back, then punching the relative while he was on the ground in the head area after an argument Sept. 29 in East Palestine.
Nicholas Pete Vojnovich, 30, Duke Vodrey Road, East Liverpool, was fined $500 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 88 days suspended and credit for two days served, for disorderly conduct amended from criminal damaging and obstructing official business amended from resisting arrest, with 20 hours community service ordered. Vojnovich was arguing with a woman on July 25 in St. Clair Township and came outside attempting to get her out of her vehicle and ripped off the driver's door handle. Officers arrived and attempted to talk to him but he kept yelling and when he came back outside was intoxicated and refusing to identify himself. When placed under arrest, he began pulling away.
Michael D. Jenkins, 36, North Market Street, Lisbon, was fined $850 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 87 days suspended and credit for three days served in a driver intervention program for physical control amended from OVI, endangering children and reckless operation, with 20 hours community service ordered. A charge of driving under suspension was dismissed. He had a child in the vehicle when he was stopped in a disabled vehicle on Feb. 15, 2026 in Elkrun Township and showed signs of impairment. His license was suspended for 180 days.
James R. Wilson, 31, Church Street, New Waterford, was fined $500 and received credit for 12 days served in jail for drug abuse instruments and drug paraphernalia for possessing a hypodermic needle and a plastic bag with white crystal substance during a traffic stop on April 24, 2026 in Salem.
A pretrial was set Nov. 24 for Roberta Baker, 62, Annesley Road, East Liverpool, charged with exterior protection and housing code violation buildings and structures for allegedly violating housing codes due to exterior maintenance issues at a Bradshaw Avenue property in East Liverpool noted on April 20 2026 and on May 31, 2026
A pretrial was set Nov. 24 for Chase Dimarco, 39, doing business as Dimarco National, LLC, Toronto, charged with litter and storage of tire violations for allowing litter and tires to accumulate on a Bradshaw Avenue, East Liverpool property on May 20 and continuing to the present date.
James Thomas Cheeks, 49, St. Clair Avenue, East Liverpool, was fined $250 and given credit for two days served for drug paraphernalia for possessing three burnt glass pipes after being taken into custody for an active warrant on May 10, 2026 in East Liverpool.