STEUBENVILLE — A man who allegedly shot at police during a three-state high speed chase and another who fired “multiple rounds” at a deputy sheriff were indicted Wednesday by a Jefferson County Grand Jury.
A total of 16 indictments were returned, Prosecutor Jane Hanlin reported.
Ordered to stand trial on two felony counts of felonious assault, each with a firearm specification, plus inducing panic and using weapons while intoxicated, both misdemeanors, was Adam Coy Roberts, 616 State route 151, Mingo Junction.
The indictment alleges Roberts, 43, was armed with three guns when he caused or attempted to cause harm to a Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy and forced authorities to evacuate a public place with “reckless disregard” of the panic he’d caused on Sept. 7 in the Gould’s Run area. It also suggests Roberts was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time.
Authorities allege Roberts fired “multiple rounds from multiple weapons” at the deputy and other officers responding to the shots fired call, “and when (officers) finally got into his house they found 110 spent shell casings.”
Also indicted was Tyler Joseph Karhut, 198 National Road, Toronto, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault felonious assault, and failure to comply with order of signal of a police officer, all felonies, along with misdemeanor counts of aggravated menacing and criminal damaging or endangering.
Authorities allege Karhut, 27, forced his way into a former girlfriend’s house on Sept. 19 and, armed with a knife, “in a sudden fit of rage” threatened to harm her male companion before fleeing in the man’s car.
They said an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer spotted the car at a rest stop and discovered Karhut sleeping with a gun in his lap. The officer called for backup but before it arrived they allege Karhut took off, leading police on a high-speed chase into West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where the pursuit was called off. Karhut, who was taken into custody by authorities in Pennsylvania, allegedly fired shots from his car window during the chase.
The six-count indictment charges Karhut broke into the ex-girlfriend’s residence and “attempted or threatened to inflict physical harm” on her and the man who was with her” with the knife, taking the man’s car, knowingly causing or attempt to cause physical harm to the OSHP trooper and trying to elude police despite being ordered to stop, causing a “substantial risk of serious physical harm” to others.
Others indicted:
• Cinquan J. Dunn, 20, 8444 S. Escanaba Ave., Floor 1, Chicago, and Thomas Cunningham, 26, 9624 S. Ewing Ave., Chicago, on drug trafficking charges.
Grand jurors returned a 10-count indictment charging Dunn, 20, with three counts of trafficking cocaine, three counts of trafficking a fentanyl-related compound, two counts of possessing cocaine and two counts of possessing a fentanyl-related compound. All 10 counts are felonies.
A six-count indictment returned against Cunningham, 26, charges him with two counts of trafficking cocaine, two counts of trafficking a fentanyl-related compound, possession of a fentanyl-related compound and possession of cocaine. All six counts of the indictment are felonies.
Detectives with the Jefferson County Drug Task Force said they seized four guns, fentanyl, cocaine, ecstasy and cash when they raided two apartments in Steuben ville and a third on County Road 28 in August.
• Michael Leroy Jett Jr., 756 ½ Commercial Ave., Mingo Junction, possession of cocaine and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, both felonies.
The Jefferson County Drug Task Force allegedly found quantities of cocaine and fentanyl in Jett’s home when they raided it for a second time Sept. 28.
In August, Jett had been indicted on charges he possessed of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine as well as a gun, despite being barred from using or possessing firearms due to a 2016 felony drug conviction but was released after posting bond.
Authorities said he was still out on bond when he was arrested the second time.
• Malinda Sue Whittaker, 2752 county Road 11, Dillonvale, ordered to stand trial on charges of aggravated vehicular assault, a felony, and misdemeanor operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol drugs or a combination of the two.
The indictment states Whittaker, 29, was inebriated Sept. 2 when she struck a motorcyclist with her 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe on county Road 8.
Prosecutors allege the motorcyclist “ended up on the roof” on the roof of Whittaker’s SUV, breaking bones in his arm.
• Jason Leo Hearn, 45, 3825 Main St., Weirton, failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, a felony.
Hearn allegedly fled OSHP after callers reported a motorcyclist had passed them traveling at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour Aug. 22 on state Route 7 northbound. Authorities allege troopers tried to pull him over but instead he fled onto township Road 184, going through a construction zone at a speed in excess of 70 mph before eventually crashing. Told he was under arrest, the officer said Hearns told him multiple times “to (expletive) myself” and told them “I don’t need no (expletive) ambulance.”
• Romina Shakwa Harris, 28, 800 Oakmont Ave., Steubenville, burglary, trespassing in a habitation when a person is or is likely to be present and two counts of felonious assault, all felonies.
Harris allegedly broke into a woman’s house Aug. 30 and assaulted her “with a tool that looks like a screw,” putting a hole in her side, authorities said. The two allegedly had been arguing about a car.
The four-count indictment alleges Harris forced her way into an occupied residence and knowingly caused the woman serious physical harm.
• Myron Devon Harton, 34, 411 Lincoln Ave., Mingo Junction, felony charges of possessing cocaine with a major drug offender specification, receiving stolen property and having weapons under disability.
Authorities allege Harton tossed a kilo of cocaine out his car window Oct. 5 and claim he knew or should have known a gun he had in his possession that day had been stolen.
The indictment also stated Harton also was barred from having or using guns due to a 2022 conviction for assault on a police officer.
• Edward Garibay, 58, Plum, Pa., unauthorized use of a computer, cable or telecommunications property, a felony, and misdemeanor unauthorized use of a property.
The indictment states Garibay unlawfully accessed a TEAM Ford computer “for the purpose of devising or executing a scheme to defraud or to obtain property or services.”
Prosecutors allege Garibay, working for a competitor, accessed one of TEAM’s computers to steal customers from the dealership.
• Nicholas Allen Brousseau, 20, 1317 Dennis Way, Toronto, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a felony.
Brousseau allegedly tried to flee police in Wintersville on Sept. 7. Authorities allege he travelled through a construction zone at a speed in excess of 80 mph.
• Bruce Alan Riley, 24, and Mariah Anne Smith, 21, both of 1120 Lincoln Ave., Apt. A, indicted separately on felony charges of unlawful transactions in weapons.
Their indictments allege the pair got a gun for an individual prohibited from using or possessing guns, April 19.
• Khloe Louise DiBiase, 30, 114 N. 15th St., Weirton, possession of cocaine, a felony. Authorities allege OSHP troopers found more than 20 grams of cocaine in DiBiase’s car after an Oct. 6 accident.
• Kevin Leroy Grimes, 41, 324 High St., Amsterdam, aggravated trafficking in drugs, receiving stolen property and having weapons under disability, all felonies.
The indictment alleges Grimes trafficked methamphetamine on Sept. 25, that he had a stolen Honda motorcycle and was armed with a .22 long rifle, despite being barred from using or possessing guns after a 2003 robbery conviction.
• An amended indictment was returned for Thomas J. Chaney, 53, 1391 Tweed Ave., Steubenville.
Chaney originally was indicted 13 months ago on two counts of theft and three counts of vandalism charges after he allegedly connected his water line to a neighbor’s property in December 2020 to avoid being charged.
The superseding indictment, returned Wednesday, adds one count of receiving stolen property, water he fraudulently obtained from the City of Steubenville, from Dec. 1, 2020 through March 31, 2022.
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