Toledoan arrested in alleged beating of pregnant woman

Man arrested in Elyria after tip from Facebook

8/17/2013

ELYRIA, Ohio -- A Toledo man arrested in the alleged June beating of a pregnant woman in her Walbridge mobile home is scheduled for arraignment Monday.

Clint Hill, 32, is scheduled to appear before Wood County Common Pleas Judge Reeve Kelsey at 1 p.m., according to court records. He was arrested Thursday after Elyria police acted on a tip gleaned from Facebook, police said.

Mr. Hill was arrested by Elyria police who discovered him coming out of a closet in an Elyria home, where Mr. Hill had been staying, according to Officer Jeff Goetz of the Walbridge Police Department. A Wood County grand jury indicted Mr. Hill on Aug. 8 on felony counts of burglary, abduction, and domestic violence.

Officer Goetz said police had been searching for Mr. Hill since June 16, when the suspect allegedly barged into the residence of Kristen Hernandez, 22, at the Deluxe Mobile Home Court on Drouillard Road. Ms. Hernandez told police she was five months pregnant at the time. Officer Goetz said Mr. Hill had been issued an order by police to stay away from the Drouillard Road home because of previous domestic violence cases.

Officer Goetz said that during the June 16 episode the suspect allegedly punched Ms. Hernandez, and then struck her multiple times with a broken broomstick. Officer Goetz said the suspect then ordered her and four children into her car, telling her to drive toward Toledo. He continued to punch her as she drove. At some point along Manhattan Boulevard, Mr. Hill of 577 South Ave. told her to stop the car. He jumped out, grabbed her cell phone, and told her not to call the police.

Ms. Hernandez drove to her mother's house and then to Mercy St. Charles Hospital for treatment. Hospital staff reported the woman's injuries to Walbridge police.

Officer Goetz said Mr. Hill's mother, Ramona Billingsley, who lives in Vermilion, Ohio, became involved this week after Mr. Hill allegedly threatened her.

Ms. Billingsley went to Vermilion police and alerted them to the threat and told them her son was wanted by Walbridge police, according to Vermilion police Sgt. Gordon Adams.

The mother said her son might be in the north central Ohio area, possibly staying with a friend in Elyria. Sergeant Adams said police dispatcher Bridget Rutherford did police network searches and then shifted to social media sites, specifically Facebook.

Ms. Rutherford, a part-time dispatcher hired in June, 2012, allegedly discovered some recent Facebook activity between the friend and Mr. Hill. Subsequently, she turned up an address, and Sergeant Adams said his department alerted Elyria police who converged on a South Abbe Road home.

An acquaintance, Jenna Yeo, answered the door, and Ms. Yeo allegedly denied Mr. Hill was in the house.

Police asked permission to search the residence, and it was granted. During their search they allegedly discovered Mr. Hill exiting the closet, police said. Mr. Hill was taken to the Lorain County jail, and Ms. Yeo was arrested and charged with obstructing official business for allegedly lying to police about Mr. Hill's whereabouts.

Elyria is about 80 miles east of Toledo.