PAUL WHITE

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The case of a man accused of faking a heart attack and attempting to escape Weirton police while being transported through Martins Ferry will go before a grand jury next week.

Paul White, 44, with addresses listed in court records at 927 Technology Drive, Triadelphia, and at 2719 Charles St., Wheeling, was the subject of a brief manhunt at the end of June. He appeared via video before Belmont County Northern Division Court Judge Chris Berhalter on Friday for a preliminary hearing.

Assistant Prosecutor Chris Gagin said White faces a fourth-degree felony charge of assault on a police officer and a misdemeanor-level count of escape.

“The state’s going to seek leave to dismiss both actions again for direct presentment next week at the Belmont County grand jury,” Gagin said. “The escape will go up with (the assault charge) as it is directly tied to the facts that led to the alleged assault.”

Assistant Public Defender Aaron Moore had no objection. Berhalter accepted this.

“I’m going to grant the state’s request to dismiss both matters to present directly to the grand jury,” he said.

White was being transported by Weirton police to the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville when he allegedly faked a heart attack. When the officer pulled over near the Bob Evans restaurant on Ohio 7 at Aetna Street at the Martins Ferry/Bridgeport corporation limit to call for an ambulance, White reportedly escaped from the cruiser and fled on foot. Multiple law enforcement agencies converged on the scene for a search of the surrounding woods. Martins Ferry’s K-9 Patch reportedly found White hiding under brush near the railroad tracks.

White remains in the Belmont County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. White waived an extradition hearing in early July, and Hancock County officials will be notified to pick him up after Belmont County’s proceedings are finished. He was set for another hearing Aug. 7 – 30 days after his July appearance.