January grand jury hands down 17 indictments

MOUNT VERNON — Seventeen indictments were handed down by the Knox County grand jury on Monday. Arraignments are scheduled for Jan. 29 in the Knox County Common Pleas Court before Judge Otho Eyster.

According to Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher, Kevin L. Curtis, 24, Knox County Jail, was indicted on two counts of felonious assault and two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly slashing a 25-year-old male victim with a box cutter on the victim’s back, arm and face. A second vicim, a 46-year-old male suffered a broken nose. Thatcher said the incident occurred in a Mount Vernon apartment the evening of Dec. 26, 2009. Both victims were treated at Knox Community Hospital.

Shannon D. Beheler, 40, Mount Vernon, was charged with aggravated vehicular assault, vehicular assault, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and refusing to submit to a chemical test. On Dec. 23, 2009, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, responded to a two vehicle crash on Ohio 3, in Mount Vernon. Beheler was driving northbound when she allegedly went left of center striking a southbound vehicle. The driver of the southbound vehicle was transported to Knox Community Hospital for treatment of injuries allegedly sustained in the crash. The OSHP trooper allegedly detected the presence of alcohol on Beheler who subsequently failed field sobriety tests. Beheler is also accused of refusing to take a breath test to detect alcohol offered to her by the trooper.

Kari A. Mercier, 27, Irving, Texas, faces her fourth operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol charge in six years. According to the indictment, Mercier was convicted of OVI in the Mount Vernon Municipal Court, twice in 2004 and once in 2006. On Nov. 26, 2009, on North Main Street, Mount Vernon, Mercier allegedly failed field sobriety tests administered by an OSHP trooper. The results of urine testing at the OSHP’s crime lab allegedly show Mercier had a concentration of 0.245 grams of alcohol in her body at the time of the offense.

According to his indictment, Robert L. Preece, 30, Knox County Jail, was convicted of sexual battery in the Knox County Common Pleas Court, on March 16, 1998. As a registered sex offender, Preece is required to provide change of address notification to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Preece is accused of failing to provide notice of a change of address to the sheriff’s office, on Dec. 5, 2009. Thatcher said Preece was previously convicted of failure to register his address with authorities, in 2006, making the current charge a felony of the third degree carrying a prison sentence of up to five years.

Rick L. Shepard, 53, faces charges of rape and gross sexual imposition for allegedly engaging in sexual conduct and having sexual contact by force with a 30-year-old male victim, Dec. 4, 2009.

J-Ro L. Sharp, 25, Knox County Jail, was indicted for possession of a shotgun, rifle and muzzleloader stolen from a Mickley Road business, on Jan. 7, and for possession of other property stolen from the business. Thatcher said officers allegedly found the stolen property in Sharp’s Danville residence.

Joshua D. Bias, 32, Centerburg, was indicted for possession and misuse of a stolen credit card. Store surveillance video allegedly shows Bias using a stolen debit card to make purchases totaling $1,334, on Dec. 4 and 5, 2009.

The night of Nov. 27, 2009, a woman’s purse was stolen in the parking lot of a Mount Vernon grocery store. Thatcher said the purse contained three books of blank checks and a credit card. Shortly after the purse was stolen, Tony E. Frazee, 42, Knox County Jail, allegedly cashed one of the stolen checks, made payable to himself in the amount of $1,000, at a bank in Fredericktown. Frazee is accused of possession of stolen checks and a stolen credit card, forgery, and theft by deception. Detective McElroy, MVPD, investigated the case.

On Nov. 16, 2009, Grant T. Boucher, 30, Knox County Jail, allegedly burglarized a home on Pleasant Valley Road, stole blank checks, forged one of the checks and then cashed it for $800. Boucher’s indictment includes one count of burglary, two counts of theft of checks, and one count of forgery and theft by deception.

Jimmy D. Colburn, 25, Holmes County Jail, is accused of stealing two video game systems valued at $600 from a Mount Vernon store on Nov. 28, 2009.

Mark E. Wilcox, 50, Mount Vernon, is charged with illegal cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, trafficking in cocaine and trafficking in marijuana. Thatcher said on June 30 and July 3, 2009, Wilcox allegedly sold cocaine and marijuana to a confidential informant working for the MVPD. On July 3, MVPD officers executed a search warrant and discovered an indoor marijuana growing operation in Wilcox’s residence.

Christopher M. Cole, 21, Knox County Jail, is currently on probation with the Mount Vernon Municipal Court. Cole’s residence is subject to periodic checks by probation officers, pursuant to the terms of his probation. During a routine house check on Nov. 23, 2009, his probation officer allegedly found 27 individually wrapped baggies containing marijuana in a fire safe hidden in Cole’s residence. Thatcher said Cole is charged with trafficking in marijuana for allegedly preparing it for distribution in the 27 individually wrapped baggies.

Steven M. Tomlin, 19, Southeastern Correctional Institution, faces a charge of corrupting a minor with for allegedly giving a juvenile Percocet, a schedule II controlled substance, on Aug. 13, 2009. Connie M. Blubaugh, 23, Mount Vernon, is also charged with corrupting a minor with drugs. Thatcher said on Oct. 24, 2009, Blubaugh gave birth to a child who allegedly tested positive for cocaine. The child went into respiratory distress and suffered from cocaine withdrawal symptoms after delivery. According to Thatcher, the child is in the protective custody of Knox County Children’s Services at this time.

Raygene Suain, 28, Mount Vernon, is accused of illegal processing of drug documents for allegedly calling in unauthorized prescriptions for Tylenol with Codeine and Vicodin, on Sept. 9 and 17 and again on Nov. 4, 2009.

Jesse J. Ervin, 18, Mount Vernon, is charged with possessing a dangerous ordnance in the form of a sawed-off, 20-gauge shotgun, on Dec. 20, 2009. Thatcher said it is alleged the barrel of Ervin’s shotgun is 16 1/2 inches long, but Ohio law requires a minimum length of 18 inches.

On Dec. 1, 2009, Christopher J. Crowell, 25, Knox County Jail, was working as a MVPD confidential informant. Thatcher said after a drug buy, Crowell allegedly concealed a rock of crack cocaine in his mouth and hid $20 of drug buy money in his underwear.