Man who held family hostage indicted

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A gun-wielding Upper Township man accused of holding two family members hostage with a gun last month was indicted late last week by a Lawrence County grand jury.

Ronnie Rowe, 54, of 96 Private Drive 2562, Ironton, was indicted on two counts of felonious assault, each with a firearm specification, two counts of kidnapping, each with a firearm specification and one count each of improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation, disrupting a public service and resisting arrest.

On Oct. 5, authorities were called to a residence in Sisler Hollow, off Lawrence Street Road in response reports of a man with a gun holding people hostage. The man had reportedly fired the gun several times and was making threats to shoot people and shoot officers who came to the scene.

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The situation ended when Rowe reportedly walked to the end of the road and was tackled by Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputy Jamie Pruitt.

According to information from the office of Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier, Jr., there were 30 indictments handed down Thursday and Friday. Two were secret, drug-related indictments.

Others indicted were:

—Tom Sanders, 60, 1797 State Route 93, Ironton, felonious assault with a firearm specification.

—Aaron Porter, 31, Huntington, W.Va., escape.

—Perdita Fitisemanu, 26, 156 Township Road 1339, South Point, two counts of grand theft of a firearm and one count of falsification.

—Randall Ward, 27, 7992 County Road 1, South Point, one count each of rape and felonious assault. The victim of the rape was an adult female.

—Preston Curry, 31, 223 Township Road 1186, South Point, theft.

—Deborah Johnson, 50, 109 Ashland Drive, South Point, identity fraud.

—Shane Lemley, 34, 597 State Route 775 Proctorville,

two counts of theft from the elderly and one count of theft by deception.

—Christopher Hamlin, 31, 15 Township Road 1122, Proctorville, one count each of complicity to theft from the elderly and forgery.

—Cody Johnson, 19, 266 Private Drive 1070, Proctorville, burglary.

—Meagan Collins, 21, Huntington, W.Va., two counts of burglary.

—Gina R. Anderson, 20, Huntington, W.Va., two counts of burglary.

—Teddy Moore, 45, 25 Township Road 1377, South Point, grand theft.

—John Ackerson, 21, 605 S. 10th St., Ironton, one count each of theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

—Benjamin Hughes, 33, 2553-1/2 S. Third St., two counts of theft and one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle.

—Beverly Singer, 27, Ashland, Ky., complicity to burglary.

—Cassandra Cantrell, 24, Ashland, Ky., burglary.

—Meaka Carter, 36, 618 S. Eighth St., Ironton, felonious assault.

—Sonny Riffe, 59, 967 County Road 22, Ironton, rape. The victim was a nine-year-old girl.

—Adam Stapleton, 23, 126 Private Drive 3467, Ironton, breaking and entering.

—Thelma Cade, 25, 1115-1/2 S. Third St., Ironton, two counts of illegal use of food stamps.

—Carla Phillips, 41, Wyanoke Street, Ironton, illegal use of food stamps.

—Hobert Gearheart, 44, Russell, Ky., misuse of a credit card.

—Jeremy McClellan, 21, 1891 County Road 5, Kitts Hill, one count each of burglary and breaking and entering.

—James M. Daniel Jr., 29, Wayne, Mich., one count each of trafficking in crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine.

—Chartese Love, 24, Huntington, W.Va., one count each of trafficking in crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine.

—Eugene Walmsley, 27, St. Inkster, Mich., ., one count each of trafficking in crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine.