FC male charged with Kidnapping and two counts of Criminal Confinement along with three other felonies

By John Estridge

David Neanover, 39, was charged with six felonies including three Level 3 Felonies and one misdemeanor regarding a series of incidents that allegedly occurred on Tuesday, July 12

According to an Investigative Narrative written by Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Arin Bowers, he was called to assist Mount Carmel Marshal Brent Hood a little after 5 p.m.

There, Bowers spoke with the alleged female victim. Bowers said he could see obvious injuries on the alleged victim.

According to the victim, she was in the home of Neanover’s mother off Indiana 252. She and Neanover had been arguing for 24 hours. The victim said she tried to stay downstairs so Neanover’s mother could see what was happening.

While downstairs, she said Neanover threw multiple items at her and shoved her down, making her hit her head on a metal doorknob. Neanover’s mother told both of them to stop.

Hitting the doorknob caused a large bruise near her right temple.

At some point the alleged victim was upstairs with Neanover. Neanover’s mother cannot use the stairs due to disabilities. While upstairs, the alleged victim said Neanover repeatedly hit her with household items, and he walked around carrying a machete and an axe. With the weapons, Neanover allegedly refused to allow the alleged victim to leave the upstairs or the residence in general.

At one time while at the residence, according to the narrative, Neanover threw the victim to the ground and placed his hands around her throat, cutting off her ability to breathe. While allegedly doing this, Neanover allegedly told the victim Neanover was going to kill her.

Later, he ordered the victim to get in his vehicle, and he began to drive toward the state line. The narrative stated Neanover told the victim, Neanover had a handgun in the vehicle and would use it if she attempted to escape.

During the ride, Neanover allegedly began striking the victim repeatedly over the head using a rifle scope. This allegedly caused a severe laceration in her eyebrow.

Eventually, both people went to sleep, with the victim falling to sleep in a laundry basket. When she awoke, she thought Neanover was still asleep, and she walked away from the residence. A person at the residence where she walked to talked her into reaching out to authorities; thus, they walked to Hood’s residence and started the reporting process.

Police called EMS to report to where they were talking to the alleged victim. Bowers also photographed the injuries. The EMS took the alleged victim to McCullough-Hyde Hospital. Later, Bowers contacted the alleged victim’s physician at McCullough-Hyde. With the victim’s permission, the doctor shared her findings. She classified the injuries found on the alleged victim to be serious bodily injuries up to and including internal contusions on the alleged victim’s neck. These were discovered with the aid of an MRI.

Those injuries are indicative of severe pressure applied during strangulation the doctor told Bowers.

After EMS left to take the alleged victim to Oxford, Ohio hospital, Bowers contacted fellow deputies Chris Maxie and Jason Robinson to request their assistance in locating Neanover. They were also joined by officers Kate Walker and Jeremy Walker.

They went to Neanover’s mother’s house. She told officers Neanover had left in her vehicle to “get smokes.”

An app was used to be able to find the mother’s car. It was found to be on Neanover’s property on State Line Road. However, when officers arrived at the State Line Road residence, they were told Neanover was back at his mom’s house.

Back at the mom’s house, they discovered Neanover had walked across the road with a set of jumper cables. At this, the officers split up. Neanover was eventually found by Kate Walker. Bowers confronted a walking Neanover, ordering him to stop and get on the ground. Neanover refused and continued to walk toward Bowers. This caused Bowers to activate his stun gun.

With the help of some of the officers on the scene, they were able to handcuff Neanover and place him into custody. EMS was called to examine Neanover for injuries. None was found, and Neanover was read his rights.

While with the officers, Neanover told Jeremy Walker, which was summarized in the narrative as “she told me she was already dead inside from what I’ve done to her, so I told her I’ll just kill her and end her misery and mine as well.”

Neanover further discussed the situation with Bowers as they were on their ride to the Franklin County Security Center.

During the ride, Bowers said Neanover told him Neanover never laid a hand on the alleged victim. The only time he struck the alleged victim was while they were in the vehicle, and she attacked him first, striking him several times in the head with a flashlight. Neanover showed Bowers a bruise on his bicep, but the bruise appeared to be older, Bowers wrote in the Narrative.

Neanover said the injuries the alleged victim received were probably self-inflicted or had been caused by some of her other male friends.

Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp charged Neanover with two counts of Criminal Confinement, as Level 3 Felonies; Kidnapping, as a Level 3 Felony; Domestic Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, as a Level 5 Felony; Intimidation, as a Level 6 Felony; Strangulation, as a Level 6 Felony; and Resisting Arrest as a class A misdemeanor.

If convicted of a Level 3 Felony, Neanover could receive a sentence of three to 16 years in prison. A Level 5 Felony conviction brings a sentence of two to six years in prison.

Level 6 Felony conviction sentences range from six months to 2.5 years in jail.