HARDIE

By Janelle Patterson

The Marietta Times

jpatterson@mariettatimes.com

Indictments this month from a Washington County grand jury include a Marietta man accused of raping a 12-year-old.

Brian Hardie, 32, of 115 N. Hart. St., was indicted for rape, a first-degree felony, gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony, and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

Hardie knew the alleged victim through family friends and in August he touched her sexually while she was in his home.

“The incident occurred on Aug. 18,” said Washington County Assistant Prosecutor Joe Derkin. “But then on Nov. 21 he tried to get rid of texts with the victim and pictures of her off his phone. That’s why there’s a tampering with evidence charge as well.”

Also indicted was Craig Cox, 27, of 1822 Jonestown Road, St. Marys, W.Va., though the original charge of attempted aggravated murder in his case was not included in the indictment.

“The jury didn’t believe there was enough evidence at this time for the attempted murder,” said Derkin.

Cox still faces abduction, a third-degree felony, burglary, a second-degree felony, and vandalism, a fourth-degree felony, for allegedly abducting his wife and holding her hostage in the parking lot of the Marietta Shrine Club on Nov. 27.

“He abducted his wife and after she got loose he chased her down, broke into a few homes tracking her and tried to run her down with his truck,” said Derkin. “He ran his truck into a trailer at 249 Pennsylvania Ave., causing an estimated damage to the trailer of over $10,000.”

Other indictments:

¯ David F. Davis, 48, of 14 Weppler Road, Lowell, was indicted for having weapons while under disability, a third-degree felony.

In May neighbors were shooting in the back of their property when Davis allegedly exited his home and also discharged his firearm.

“Only when law enforcement was called and they looked back, Davis had a prior conviction of cocaine possession from 1997 in North Carolina,” said Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings.

¯ Anthony Larrison, 35, of 2109 Benedict Road, Fleming, was indicted for theft, a fifth-degree felony.

Larrison allegedly stole the debit card of Rebecca Overby after a night together in April.

“When she awoke the next morning he was gone and so was her debit card,” said Rings.

¯ Tony L. Carpenter, 47, of 1902 Sandhill Road, Marietta, was indicted for receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony, receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony, and theft, a fourth-degree felony.

In April, Carpenter allegedly stole a Honda 250 SX three-wheeler from a neighboring property.

¯ Jessica L. Stevens, 36, of 10 Albricht Drive, Newport, was indicted for possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.

In March, Stevens allegedly assaulted a household member, then after transport to the jail Oxycodone pills were found on her person.

¯ Eric T. Kendall, 42, of 220 E. Spring St, Marietta, was indicted for domestic violence, a fourth-degree felony.

Kendall has two prior convictions of aggravated menacing which made this incident against Tina Curry in February a felony, Rings said.

“There was a lot of blood at the scene,” he added. “Mr. Kendall had run his arm through a plate glass window, but there were also bruises on the victim.”

¯ Jason R. Wriston, 41, of 300 Alderman St. Marietta, was indicted for breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony, and criminal trespass, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.

On May 13, Wriston was on the porch of a Salem Township home saying he was looking for a friend. The minor present at the home told Wriston that no such person lived there at which point Wriston left and hid in a neighboring camper not owned by him.

“He scared the teen kid, who called the police,” noted Rings. “And when the owner of the camper was contacted he said Wriston didn’t have permission to be there either.”

¯ Skylar M. Paul, 25, of 1314 Glendale Road, Marietta, was indicted for burglary, a second-degree felony, and two first-degree felony counts of receiving stolen property.

“Turns out from DNA analysis that Mr. Paul’s shoes were left behind when he took the brightly colored shoes in the Hanna Road home of the Hardy Family,” said Rings.

Paul is accused of stealing jewelry, pills, a guitar, shoes, an Xbox and games from the Hardy home and a generator from the home of Leeland Nichols on Veto Road.

¯ James Morgan, 24, of 820 Highland Ave., Williamstown, was indicted for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a fifth-degree felony.

Morgan allegedly extended the possession of a borrowed vehicle from Shirley Gregor for longer than the agreed upon term of two days in July.

¯ Shawn L. Whittekind, 40, of 223 Broughton Ave., Marietta, was indicted for illegal manufacture of drugs, a first-degree felony, illegal manufacture of drugs, a second-degree felony, and illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs, a third-degree felony.

In August, Whittekind was allegedly found in the act of manufacturing methamphetamine in the Wayne National Forest and was found in possession of chemicals used to make the drug.

¯ Wesley O. Roberts, 25, of 2070 Roberts Road, Amesville, was indicted for the following:

¯ Theft from the elderly, a third-degree felony.

¯ Carrying concealed weapons, a first-degree misdemeanor.

¯ Two counts of safecracking, both fourth-degree felonies.

¯ Possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

¯ Tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

¯ Theft, a fifth-degree felony.

Roberts stands accused of stealing $15,200 from the safe of Charlene Anderson’s Anderson Accounting office safe, stealing two laptops and tossing three offices in the National Carports Business Building at 201 Ayers Blvd., Dunham Township.

The building, owned by Randy Williams, also housed CDW Internet Services, owned by Williams’ son, Cody.

“When law enforcement arrested him they found thousands of dollars in cash on him and receipts from big purchases as well,” said Derkin. “And he had a gun on him that he bought with the money he stole.”

¯Justin W. Barth, 33, of 516 Smith St., Marietta, was indicted for receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony, theft of a credit card, a fifth-degree felony, theft, a fourth-degree felony, and theft, a fifth-degree felony.

Washington County Assistant Prosecutor Amy Graham said Barth faced the indictments from two separate incidents, one between January 2016 and 2017 and one between April 25 and May 5 of this year.

The first stems from Barth’s longtime employment with Pioneer Golf.

“He had been authorized to buy parts for the golf course from Uniselect, formerly Marietta Ignition,” explained Graham. “But then he started buying parts for his own personal vehicle and even made purchases at Apex Hardware where he was not authorized.”

In total Barth charged $1,400 of the company’s money for personal purchases, she said.

The second indictment for receiving stolen property and theft of a credit card stem from the unauthorized use of Jennifer Mosser’s credit card while she was not at home between April 25 and May 5.

“She had been letting a friend stay at her home and didn’t know him but he was staying there also,” said Graham. “And when she returned a four-wheeler was also missing which turned up in his parents’ barn.”

¯ Codefendants Robert E. O’Brien Jr., 35, and Steven L. O’Brien, 28, both of 343 Main St., Lower Salem, both face the following charges:

¯ Receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony.

¯ Burglary, a second-degree felony.

¯ Theft from the elderly, a fourth-degree felony.

¯ Grand theft, a third-degree felony.

¯ Safecracking, a fourth-degree felony.

¯ Obstructing official business, a second-degree misdemeanor.

¯ Receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony.

¯ Possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

“They were staking out (Helen Haas’) house,” said Derkin.

Haas, an elderly woman, was burglarized Nov. 10 with a total value of more than $1,000 in coins, jewelry and a shotgun, rifle and handgun.

“They took her safe as well,” added Rings. “They used a crowbar, that’s where the criminal tools comes in.”

¯ Codefendants Corey L. Smearman, 29, of 570 Albright Road, Beverly, and April Calvert, 31, of 407 Eighth St. Belpre, also face the same charges of burglary, a second-degree felony, grand theft, a third-degree felony, and theft, a fifth-degree felony.

Early in June the pair allegedly stole electronics and powertools valuing more than $1,000 from the home of Derek Whystell, 167 Vickers Road, Barlow Township.

¯ Jeremy Charlton, 37, of 1681 Sealy Ridge Road, Vincent, faces indictments on two separate cases. The first is escape, a fifth-degree felony, and the second is one count of domestic violence, a fourth-degree felony, and violation of a protection order, a fifth-degree felony.

“He’s a beater, he’s done it many times,” said Derkin.

Charlton, who has since already pleaded guilty on a previous violation of a protection order charge, had escaped from custody of the Belpre Police Department on Oct. 10 for that initial arrest.

“They caught him trying to jump a fence,” said Derkin.

Then on Oct. 28 Charlton again allegedly assaulted his ex-wife, LeAnna Charlton, in Belpre.

¯ Kendall Richards, 46, of Forrest Hills Drive, was re-indicted for theft from a person in a protected class, a first-degree felony, and aggravated theft, a second-degree felony.

Richards allegedly stole just under $1 million in profits from a used car resale endeavor with investor James Vuksic, of M&J Enterprises LLC.

“So we set this up with two types of counts,” explained Rings. “The first, theft from a protected class has a lower limit when you steal from the elderly so that’s for the first $150,000. Then the second is for the remaining $750,000 from the LLC.”

Possible prison terms, maximum fines

¯ First-degree felony: Three to 11 years; $20,000.

¯ Second-degree felony: Two to eight years; $15,000.

¯ Third-degree felony: One to three years; $10,000.

¯ Fourth-degree felony: Six to 18 months; $5,000.

¯ Fifth-degree felony: Six months to one year; $2,500.

Source: Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.