A Jefferson County grand jury returned several indictments Wednesday in connection with shots fired incidents in Steubenville during the past couple months.
Three men were indicted in connection with a shots fired incident on July 2 in the 1500 block of Orchard Street. Stedmund C. Creech, 23, of 1305 Wellesley Ave. and Rolland K. Owens, 22, of 453 Canton Road, Wintersville were in a vehicle that pulled over in front of a house on Orchard Street, according to the Jefferson County Prosecutor's Office. Antonio Johnson, 23, of 1410 Pennsylvania Ave. allegedly pulled up in another vehicle and began firing shots at Creech and Owens with an AK-47 assault rifle.
Shots were returned at Owens, who left the scene in a vehicle but wrecked and abandoned it in the 1500 block of Plum Street, police reported. The AK-47 was found by officers on the ground a short distance from the vehicle. The windshield of that vehicle was damaged by one of the returned shots.
The prosecutor's office said a woman and another man, both unidentified, also were getting out of the vehicle with Creech and Owens. Owens was arrested later that day by police.
Creech and Johnson are still wanted by police.
Creech was indicted on three counts of having a weapon as a convicted felon and single counts of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon.
Owens was indicted on single counts of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon.
Johnson was indicted on single counts of attempted murder and felonious assault, with gun specifications, having a weapon as a convicted felon and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle.
Police were looking for Johnson and believed he was at home at 1309 Oak Grove Ave. on Tuesday evening. A search warrant was obtained, but Johnson wasn't inside the house. The prosecutor's office reported a large amount of ammunition and Johnson's personal papers were found inside the home.
Steubenville police put out a notice to area law enforcement agencies to be looking for a vehicle in which Johnson was believed to be traveling.
Weirton police located the vehicle and searched a house at 3732 Orchard St., Weirton, where they reported finding 35 grams of marijuana and a 9-mm handgun. Jerek Quinn-Maurice Wesley, 23, of Mingo Junction was arrested on charges of possession of drugs with intent to deliver and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Weirton police said additional charges are pending against a man who transported Wesley to West Virginia.
In another shots fire case, Jaquin R. Boston, 22, of 441 S. Fourth St. and Jevante L. Childs, 20, of 1218 Pennsylvania Ave. were indicted in connection with shots fired in the 700 block of Dock Street on June 8. Officers responding found about nine shell casings on the ground.
Police said witnesses reported seeing three men run from a vehicle toward North Seventh Street after the shots were fired. The vehicle, which belonged to Boston, was towed by police to be processed for evidence.
Boston and Childs each were charged with single counts of having a weapon as a convicted felon and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle.
Three men arrested by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in two separate traffic stops in the city where guns were found also were indicted.
Childs was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Dominique O. Shafer, 21, of Clarksville, Ind., on June 8. A loaded handgun was found by a state trooper. Childs was charged with single counts of having a weapon as a convicted felon and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Shafer was charged with improper handling of a firearm in a vehicle.
Leroy D. Benjamin, 23, of 329 S. Fifth St. was indicted on single counts of having a weapon as a convicted felon and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle after a highway patrol stop on June 11 in which a loaded firearm was found in a vehicle.
