One man indicted in September by the Washington County Grand Jury is accused of charging at a sheriff's deputy, while another was identified as a suspect in a theft by DNA evidence.
They were among 15 individuals against whom indictments were returned this week, prosecutors announced Friday.
Benjamin Hudson, 21, of Sandyville in Jackson County, W.Va., was charged with a fourth-degree felony count of assault of a peace officer after a Sept. 3 traffic stop on Ohio 7 in the Newport area, said Assistant Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings.
According to a release from the Washington County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to reports of a possible road rage incident and found Hudson and his vehicle at Byers Exxon. The release says Hudson was uncooperative, cursing at one deputy and initially providing another person's driver's license.
When a deputy noticed a collapsible baton and attempted to retrieve it, Hudson exited the vehicle, the release said.
"He came out of his car aggressively toward a sheriff's deputy ... and they had to Tase him," Rings said.
In an unrelated case, Timothy W. Moore Jr., 34, last known address at the State Correctional Institution in Pittsburgh, was indicted on a fifth-degree felony count of vandalism stemming from a Jan. 12 incident at the car wash at Dunham Square convenience store on Ohio 339.
A sheriff's deputy responding to a report of coin machines being broken into followed tracks in the snow to a field where he found human waste and a piece of a sock that had apparently been used as toilet paper, Prosecutor Jim Schneider said. The sock was taken and tested for DNA, which was found and matched to Moore, he said.
Schneider said the evidence shows Moore was in the field and there was only one set of tracks leading from the machines.
"So we're deducing that Timothy Moore did the crime," he said.
About $300 worth of change was stolen from the machines, which sustained an estimated $8,000 in damage, Schneider said.
Moore is currently incarcerated at the prison in Pittsburgh on a parole violation stemming from a 2006 burglary sentence, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Other indictments returned this week:
Angela D. Day, 34, of 565 B.F. Goodrich Road, was charged with three third-degree felony counts and one fourth-degree and one fifth-degree count of possession of drugs. Four of the charges come from the execution of a search warrant at her residence on July 27, 2010, when agents of the Major Crimes Task Force allegedly found her in possession of cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.
Two of the counts deal with crack and crack cocaine separately, while one of the third-degree charges focuses on both drugs, so Schneider said she cannot be convicted of all three. He said that was done because combining the amounts would result in a total of 32.8 grams, which is a third-degree felony. Possession of crack cocaine alone had been a third-degree felony but a change in state law that went into effect Friday brings it to the same level as cocaine, a fourth-degree felony.
The fifth count came as a result of an Oct. 27 traffic stop in Marietta of a vehicle in which Day was a passenger and allegedly in possession of 2.8 grams of cocaine.
The indictments were delayed in part because of the wait for drug test results and also because Day was the victim of a robbery Schneider's office was prosecuting. If that case had gone to trial, he said, he did not want charges of drug possession against her brought up in court.
Kristy G. Cline, 33, of 1308 Williamson Ave., Apt. 6E, New Matamoras, was charged with one second-degree felony count of burglary, one fourth-degree felony count of burglary and two fifth-degree felony counts of theft. The burglary charges and one theft count come from a June 24 incident in which Cline allegedly stole hunting knives, a CB radio, three necklaces, a baseball bat and more from a residence on Ohio 26 in Marietta.
In the other theft count, Cline is accused of stealing three gold rings valued at $650 on May 25 from a Lawrence Township home.
Schneider said another law change that went into effect Friday will impact that count because the standard for felony theft has risen from $500 to $750. Cline could still be convicted of a felony but would have to be sentenced as if it was a misdemeanor, meaning a maximum sentence of six months in the county jail, he said.
Angela K. Rowland, 41, of 101 Lincoln Circle, Apt. 2, Marietta, was charged with two fifth-degree felony counts of forgery. Rowland is accused of passing checks in June from the account of a family member who died in April.
Holly S. Swackhammer, 34, of 905 Campbell Drive, Belpre, was charged with fourth-degree felony theft. She is accused of improperly receiving more than $5,000 in food stamp and Medicaid benefits from August 2009 to August 2010. Rings said there is evidence her circumstances were different from what she reported so if she would have remained eligible, it likely would have been for a reduced amount.
Richard B. Smith II, 18, of 131 Alta St., Marietta, was charged with a fourth-degree felony count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Smith is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl on May 25 in Marietta. Because Smith was more than four years older than the girl, the charge is a felony, not a misdemeanor, Schneider said.
Devan W. Anderson, 20, last known address 900 Tresch Road, Fleming, was charged with second-degree felony burglary and fourth-degree felony theft. He is accused of burglarizing a Barlow Township residence on July 21 and stealing jewelry items valued at about $16,000.
C.J. Lee Anne Spencer, 22, of 128 Jefferson St., Dexter City, was charged with fourth-degree felony grand theft of a motor vehicle. She is accused of stealing a 1998 four-door Buick on May 15 in Macksburg.
Dennis Oakley, 30, of 407 Lord St., Marietta, was charged with one third-degree felony count of domestic violence after allegedly attempting to physically harm his wife on Aug. 25. The level of the charge was raised because Oakley has multiple previous domestic violence convictions, prosecutors said.
Doug E. Copeland, 40, of 507 Stone Road, Belpre, was charged with fourth-degree felony domestic violence based on an Aug. 29 incident in Belpre. Rings said Copeland had a previous domestic violence conviction in 2000, which is why this charge was elevated to a felony.
Justin A. Hall, 28, of 300 Fourth St., Apt. B, Marietta, was charged with fourth-degree felony failure to register as a sex offender. Convicted in 2004 of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Hall is accused of not properly notifying the sheriff's office of his new address after he moved this summer.
James T. Hasley, 32, of 3125 State Route 26, Marietta, was charged with fifth-degree felony theft for allegedly borrowing a computer from Washington State Community College in the summer of 2010 and not returning it despite repeated requests to do so.
Santana Lake, 25, of 204 Main St., New Matamoras, was charged with fifth-degree felony theft of a credit or debit card on July 14 in New Matamoras.
Barbara Wilson, 52, of 216 Franklin St., Marietta, was charged with fourth-degree felony burglary out of a landlord-tenant dispute on July 25 in Marietta.
