A local man was charted with felonious assault following an incident with an out-of-town woman, who was unknown to him, on South High Street on Wednesday afternoon.
Local man charged with assault
- Published: October 27, 2017
Barry Lawson, 35, of Yellow Springs has been charged with felony felonious assault following an incident that took place on Wednesday, Oct. 25, in front of his South High Street home. During the incident he attacked an out-of-town woman with a baseball bat and a screwdriver. He is now in the Greene County Jail on a $100,000 bond. The woman has been released from Greene Memorial Hospital and has returned home.
The woman, who is from Kalamazoo, Mich., came to Yellow Springs for a five-day yoga retreat at the Mills Park Hotel with well-known yoga teacher Angela Farmer, which is ending today, Friday, Oct. 28, according to a Mills Park employee. According to the statement of facts on record at Xenia Municipal Court, she and a friend were renting a home in the 300 block of South High Street, and had observed Lawson, who lived across the street with his parents, watching them when they came and went from the house. They did not know him. They also had discovered three flat tires on their car parked in front of the house, which were caused by puncture wounds.
According to the document, at about 1 p.m. Wednesday the woman was walking toward the rental during a lunch break when Lawson, who was across the street holding a bat, charged her. While she ran away, he allegedly hit her in the face, knocking out a front tooth. At this point, two people passing by in a car stopped, as well as a tow truck driver, and came to her aid. A neighbor called the police..
According to the statement of fact, the first officer to arrive was Sgt. Naomi Watson, followed by Sgt. Josh Knapp, Chief Brian Carlson and Officer Dennis Nipper. Lawson had been subdued by the passersby, and was sitting on the street. However, he stood up and allegedly again charged the woman with a screwdriver. While Sgt. Watson readied her Taser, she did not use it, and a passerby pulled Lawson away from the woman before he was subdued. He was then arrested and taken to the Greene County Jail. The woman was transported by the Miami Township Fire Rescue Squad to the Greene Memorial Hospital.
Lawson is a familiar presence in downtown Yellow Springs, who frequently walks from his High Street home to downtown, hanging out in front of the Emporium. According to an Emporium employee who asked not to be identified, he rarely came inside and rarely spoke to anyone, other than asking for a cigarette.
The case will be presented to a grand jury on Wednesday, Nov. 1, according to a press statement from Greene County Prosecutor Stephen Haller.
On Friday, Chief Carlson commended the passersby for coming to the aid of the woman, whom he believes could have been seriously hurt had there been no intervention.
2 Responses to “Local man charged with assault”
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Because he’s black, I’m sure the liberal nutjobs in the village will make sure he does no jail time anyway. Also, “arrested without incident” is an insane statement. According to your own article, he tried to assault this innocent woman again and was tazed…that’s hardly a peaceful surrender.
>out-of-town woman
Nothing to see here, folks!