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Home > Blogs > Dayton area crime > Archives > 2009 > November > 23
Monday, November 23, 2009
Police officer arrested for attempted murder of ex-girlfriend
WASHINGTON TWP., Montgomery County - A Columbus-area police officer is in Montgomery County Jail on an attempted murder charge after he allegedly abducted his ex-girlfriend and tried to drown her in a ditch.
Joshua Gearhart, 27, an auxiliary police officer with the Whitehall Police Department, was spotted near Leona Lane and Ohio 725 about 6 a.m. Sunday by sheriff’s deputies after witnesses reported a woman in the road, Maj. Scott Landis said.
Deputies found the woman covered in mud and grass clippings and soaking wet at a Shell Gas Station at Ohio 741 and Ohio 725, Landis said.
The woman said Gearhart, a former Columbus police officer, drove from there and the two went out Saturday night, Landis said. At some point, Gearhart requested she “do something for him,” and made threats that he would harm her if she didn’t, Landis said.
An argument ensued and the woman grabbed the keys from Gearhart’s truck and fled on foot, Landis said. Gearhart caught up with her, tried to drag her back to his truck and the two wrestled in a ditch full of water, Landis said.
Gearhart allegedly tried to drown the woman in the ditch, but failed, Sheriff Phil Plummer said. The woman is physically OK, Plummer said.
County prosecutors today approved a felony abduction charge against Gearhart, which allowed deputies to get a warrant that will keep him in jail, Landis said.
Gearhart was fired from the Columbus Police Department last fall after an internal investigation, the Columbus Dispatch reported at the time.
As a Columbus officer Gearhart was involved in the fatal shooting of a man who pointed a gun at officers, the newspaper reported.
He now serves as a part-time officer with the Whitehall Police Department, investigators said.
TweetDP&L helps fatal fire victims
DAYTON - Dayton Power and Light has stepped in to help a family displaced by a triple fatal fire, as donations pour in for a family who said they lost nearly everything.
Tabitha Coleman said Monday, Nov. 23, she now has electricity at her new apartment and has received a lot of donations over the weekend.
Coleman, her boyfriend Tranel Philpot and son Isaiah, were next door in the same duplex at 2820 E. First St. that nearly burned to the ground Nov. 12.
The blaze killed her neighbors Kennetha Gay, Gay’s 3-month-old son Ken’Ron Treadwell and 4-year-old daughter Mirissa Gay. Those three were laid to rest Monday in front of a packed house at the House of Wheat Funeral Home.
Coleman said she was “grateful” for the numerous items she received, but could still use furniture for her place on North Jersey Street.
Coleman, 22, and Isaiah, 2, are thankful to be alive, but they’ve lost everything.
DP&L spokeswoman Lesley Sprigg said comments made by Coleman and her landlord Mark Pardue that the company was trying to charge $175 to transfer service was not correct.
“(DP&L) does not charge customers to transfer service,” Sprigg said.
Coleman said a technician was out to transfer the service this morning.
Anyone who wishes to drop off furniture, food or toiletries to Coleman and her family can leave them at 212 N. Jersey St.
TweetJuvenile arrested in drug-related shooting death of 19-year-old
DAYTON - A 16-year-old boy and possible relative of Trenton Scroggins has been arrested for his shooting death, according to police.
The juvenile, who turned 16 on Saturday, Nov. 21, was involved in shooting Scroggins that day about 8 p.m. over a drug debt, Sgt. Gary White said. Police are not releasing the juvenile’s name, but said he could be Scroggins’ cousin.
Scroggins, 19, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital with four gunshot wounds in a friend’s car but was later transported by ambulance to Miami Valley Hospital where he died about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police said.
White said the shooting appears to be gang-related and numerous witnesses to the shooting are not cooperating in the investigation.
Officers responded to an initial report of four men were chasing a man down Willowwood Drive near Shadyside Drive while shooting at him about 7:45 p.m. Saturday, police said.
They arrived to find blood and shell casings, but no victim.
Police reports show Scroggins had a criminal past that started when he was a juvenile. His mother, Crystal Scroggins, told officers when her son was 17 he was “bipolar” and needed medication, according to a report.
As a juvenile Scroggins was arrested on a felony aggravated robbery charge where he used a toy gun to steal a DVD player and compact discs, according to a police report.
He more than once cut off his monitoring ankle bracelet while on house arrest, a report stated.
Scroggins was arrested in August on a misdemeanor public indecency charge after groping a 19-year-old woman in public. In that report an officer wrote Scroggins was “a known drug trafficker” who uses Third and Main streets to “ply his trade.”
Scroggins is the city’s 37th homicide victim this year and fourth this month. To check the status of all homicides since 2008 and view an interactive map where they occurred, click here.
The arrested juvenile is in the Montgomery County Juvenile Justice Center and is expected to appear in court some time today, police said.
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