HANCOCK COUNTY — A man involved in an altercation with police earlier this week that left him and three deputies with injuries will be kept in jail as prosecutors continue to weigh criminal charges, records show.
Law enforcement officials have 48 hours after a person is arrested to file formal criminal charges; if that time expires, the person is supposed to be released from police custody. But a judge has granted the Hancock County prosecutors office an additional three days to consider the evidence against the man they believe is George West, 34, of Avon.
The man’s true identity is still unclear, records show.
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He and a woman were stopped for a traffic violation along Interstate 70 Tuesday morning. Their interactions with police became violent when West tried to flee, officers said.
Three officers and West were hurt in a struggle that ensued, according to police.
West is being held in jail on preliminary charges that include drug dealing, resisting law enforcement and attempting to disarm an officer. Police say West struck one officer with his car and tried to take another’s weapon.
But with so many police reports to consider — 19 officers in all were involved in the investigation, records show — and more information being collected as the investigation progresses, the state needs more time consider all the evidence to ensure the proper charges are filed, said Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton.
Eaton’s team filed a petition Thursday morning asking for the additional 72-hour window of time, and the request was quickly approved by a judge. Now, prosecutors will have until Monday to make a decision about the case against West.
Meanwhile, the woman who was with West at the time of traffic stop — Ashley Livingston, 22, of Akron, Ohio — was formally charged Thursday, records show.
Police say they found 3.5 pounds of methamphetamine in the woman’s purse during their investigation.
The bundles of white powder were vacuum-sealed and wrapped in dryer sheets, according to court documents. Several thousand dollars in cash and a few fake IDs were also found in the vehicle, officials said.
Livingston now faces one Level 2 felony count of dealing methamphetamine and one Level 4 felony count of possession of methamphetamine.
A Level 2 felony count carries a maximum penalty of 30 years; the Level 4 carries a maximum penalty of 12 years.
West and Livingston were stopped along I-70 Tuesday morning by members of the Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement, or PACE, team — a multiagency task force that patrols the interstate from Marion County to the Ohio line looking for drug traffickers.
West handed officers an ID card that appeared to be fake, and officers asked West to exit his vehicle.
After a police dog determined drugs likely were in the vehicle, West took off on foot, police said. He ran back toward his vehicle, and the deputies tried to stop him as they called for backup. In the altercation, his vehicle backed into one deputy, knocking him down.
Two other deputies were injured in the scuffle.
Records show West’s true identity is still unclear.
He was booked into the Hancock County Jail Tuesday under the alias Jon Doe; but the petition for a 72-hold was filed Thursday under another alias, George West. The probable cause affidavit filed against Livingston identifies the man by a third name, Brandon Young.
Investigators have said they believe the man’s real name is George West.