From staff reports
A Polk woman pleaded guilty Monday in Crawford County court to several charges related to a group assault of a 19-year-old man last August at Cochranton’s Lions Park.
Jolene M. Webber, 35, entered her guilty pleas on charges of unlawful restraint, possession of instruments of crime and conspiracy to commit simple assault. She remains free on $10,000 bond while she awaits sentencing this summer.
Webber was charged by Cochranton police along with Bradley I. Simmons, 19, of Clintonville, and six juveniles in connection with the incident that took place in the early morning hours of Aug. 14.
The victim of the assault had been asked to meet a 17-year-old girl at the park to retrieve the victim’s telephone and delete alleged inappropriate photographs of the girl and other juvenile females, according to a criminal complaint filed with district judge Amy Nicols.
When the man arrived at the park, multiple juveniles and Simmons were hiding in the roof truss area of a pavilion and behind a restroom building to simultaneously surround and restrain him, the complaint said. The 17-year-old girl asked the man for a hug in the middle of the pavilion and locked her arms around him until she could signal to the group to restrain him, the complaint said.
Later on, the complaint said two juveniles began to strike the victim along with the majority of the other people who were present, including Simmons, who kicked him in the back of the head.
Several minutes later, the complaint said Webber arrived at the park with a miniature sledge hammer, channel locks and a miniature wooden bat. She told the juveniles they were highly visible and directed them to go into the woods at the east end of the park, the complaint said.
Webber, Simmons and two other juveniles carried the victim to the woods, the complaint said. Simmons dropped the victim, causing him to take another impact to the head, the complaint said.
The victim said Webber swung the sledge hammer, nearly striking him in the face, the complaint said.
The victim was choked with his shirt and beaten in the wooded area near Route 322/Sugar Creek, the complaint said. He underwent hospital treatment after the attack.
Simmons pleaded guilty in April to charges of unlawful restraint/serious bodily injury and simple assault. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 22.
