PIKETON, Ohio — One man is charged with abduction and assault and another man is charged with fleeing and eluding from law enforcement during an incident in Pike County on Friday.
The Pike County Sheriff’s Office received a call just after 3 p.m. from a woman who was reportedly screaming in the background on the phone. Deputies remained on the line listening as the woman and a man argued with one another and concluded that the woman was being forced or abducted against her will.
The sheriff’s office says they heard the woman say, “you are holding me hostage.”
After locating the origin of the call, they determined her to be in Piketon near Jasper Elementary School.
Deputies and Piketon and Waverly police officers responded to the area and were flagged down by a witness who told them that one of the suspects, later identified as 21-year-old Jerry Parsons II, had forced a woman into his vehicle.
The witness also told officers and deputies that he had been assaulted by Parsons, who then allegedly took the woman and fled in an SUV being driven by 33-year-old Andrew Workman.
Law enforcement agencies in the area and the Ohio State Highway Patrol were notified of the incident and OSHP soon found and attempted to stop the SUV on Fog Road. According to the sheriff’s office, Workman drove the SUV away from the troopers, leading to a pursuit.
Spikes were then placed on the road and the vehicle struck them while driving in the area of Germany Road and Owl Creek Road. The vehicle eventually turned onto Vance Road, which is a dead-end road.
Law enforcement officers took Parsons and Workman into custody without further incident.
Workman had outstanding warrants out of Pike County for failure to appear on disobeying police and trafficking in meth. The sheriff’s office says Workman also had a warrant for assault out of Ross County. He now faces charges of fleeing and eluding.
Parsons is charged with assault and abduction, according to the sheriff's office.