Escapee gets eight years

LISBON -- A Youngstown woman who scaled a fence to escape a Lisbon lockup, stole a car and ran over the car owner's foot while fleeing last summer is going to prison for at least eight years.

Ashley Croley, 38, appeared for sentencing Thursday afternoon before Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam, expressing remorse for her actions that injured Lisbon resident Timothy Felt.

"What I did was wrong. I'm sorry for what I did," Croley said.

Felt spoke briefly when given his chance, telling the judge the actions of the defendant that day resulted in his wife taking off weeks of work and cost him a job opportunity he had lined up prior to being injured.

"My bones grind every step that I take. I still struggle to this day," he said.

Defense attorney James Wise and three supporters of the defendant all asked for a lesser sentence than the nine years the prosecution had recommended, citing Croley's issues with substance abuse.

County Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech recommended a 24-month term for the third-degree felony escape charge, a 12-month term for the fourth-degree felony grand theft of a motor vehicle charge and then six years for the felonious assault charge, a second-degree felony, all to be served consecutively, for a total of nine years. A third-degree felony vehicular assault charge was merged with the felonious assault for sentencing.

Washam sentenced her to 24 months for the escape, 12 months for the vehicle theft and six years for the felonious assault, with the first two counts to be served concurrently (at the same time), but consecutive to the felonious assault charge, for the total of eight years. If the Ohio Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation chooses, she could face additional time after the eight years. Her license was suspended for one year.

Croley entered a guilty plea to all four counts of the indictment Monday, choosing to forego the jury trial that was supposed to start that day.

Beech recounted the events that led to the indictment and his sentencing recommendation, noting that Croley made several choices that day, resulting in serious injury to an innocent victim.

The courtroom where sentencing was taking place was also the courtroom where the saga began when Washam ordered Croley to spend some time at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center, a community-based facility for women, located in Lisbon, for violating her probation on a drug charge.

"She was sent there to help her, to rehabilitate her," Beech said.

Instead, he said Croley hid somewhere inside the facility on Aug. 5 and when everyone else was at dinner, she exited through an unlocked door into the fenced-in yard, climbed the fence and escaped. Within a matter of minutes, she ended up at the East of Chicago Pizza restaurant parking lot where she noticed keys on the passenger side seat of a parked blue Chevy Cobalt, got inside and started it up. At about that time, the owner, Felt, who had been picking up an order, came outside and saw what was happening. He ran up to his running vehicle and opened the driver side door in an attempt to stop her from stealing it. Croley put the car in reverse, causing Felt to get caught in the door, then she ran over his foot.

"He described the pain as excruciating," Beech said.

She left tire marks in the parking lot as she absconded from the county and ended up in Youngstown, which is where the car was found a little over a week later. Beech said the car had been trashed. Croley was taken into custody on Sept. 28 in Youngstown by U.S. Marshals.

Beech said the victim was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had to endure a lot of doctor visits and hospital visits.

Besides her actions, Beech pointed to Croley's criminal history and the fact that she has pending felonies in Mahoning County for breaking and entering charges.

Her supporters talked about what Croley was like before she relapsed and struggled with her addiction. Daniel Sims asked the court to give her the benefit of the doubt and to be lenient. He said she knew what she did was a terrible thing to do and talked about her family, adding that "when she was in recovery, she was phenomenal."

Mark Heath, who said Croley was his fiancee, described her as a loving person who would help other people. He said "the trauma of her past has affected her mentally and physically."

Heath said what she did was unfortunate, but said this is not the woman she is. He asked the judge to help her.

Croley's mother, Tina Hamrick, talked about how her daughter worked the program and worked every day and worked overtime so her kids could have what they needed. She said she lost her son in 2020 and she thinks that's when Ashley's life took a turn, after her brother's death. She said she can't change what happened, but indicated her daughter will work to get better.

"I already lost my son, please don't send my daughter away forever," she said.

Wise commented "I believe that any loss of freedom has a high impact on people," prompting a question from the judge, who asked "does that include Mr. Felt's freedom?"

Prior to issuing the sentence, Washam said, "We can't change the past."

He mentioned the fact that he placed Croley at the EOCC and continued her probation, saying "You violated the terms in the most egregious way."

After the hearing, Beech said. "We're satisfied with the outcome of the case. We hope justice was served for the victim."

He also gave a shout out to the Lisbon police personnel for their work on the case, saying "We credit the investigation done by the Lisbon Police Department."

mgreier@mojonews.com