Pettaway charged in assault on girlfriend

Ex-Toledoan acquitted of murder in July trial

Cameo D. Pettaway arrested by Oregon Police Department for Felonious Assault.

Cameo D. Pettaway arrested by Oregon Police Department for Felonious Assault.

A former Toledo man who was acquitted in the aggravated murder trial of a Springfield Township couple in July was arrested by Oregon police Sunday for the alleged assault of his live-in girlfriend.

Sgt. E.J. Materni said the victim, Sarah Rupert, 26, called police around 8 a.m. to report that Cameo Pettaway, 23, had assaulted her with his fists in the course of an argument “over stupid things.”

Ms. Rupert, who was in an upstairs bedroom at her residence in Oregon when she was assaulted while in bed, managed to crawl downstairs to call police, Sergeant Materni said. Police found Mr. Pettaway in bed when they arrived.

He was charged with one count of aggravated assault and was being held in the Lucas County jail on a $75,000 bond.

Sergeant Materni said Ms. Rupert, who suffered significant injuries to her face, was taken to Mercy St. Charles Hospital. A spokesman said the hospital did not have a patient by that name.

Mr. Pettaway is to be arraigned Monday in Oregon Municipal Court.

Mr. Pettaway was acquitted in July by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge James Bates for lack of evidence in the slayings of Lisa Straub and Johnny Clarke.

The ruling was issued after a jury heard 3½ days of testimony but before the trial got to the jury deliberation stage.

Mr. Pettaway and co-defendant Samuel Williams, 24, were each charged with aggravated murder in connection with the deaths.

After his release, he was taken into custody and sent to Wood County on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant from Perrysburg Municipal Court.

Williams, 24, was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary.

He was also found guilty of capital specifications attached to the murder charges.