Court date set for man found in Elyria

Toledoan accused of beating pregnant woman, plus burglary, abduction

8/17/2013

ELYRIA, Ohio — A Toledo man arrested on accusations of beating a pregnant woman in her Walbridge mobile home in June has been scheduled for arraignment Monday.

Clint Hill, 32, of 577 South Ave. is scheduled to appear before Wood County Common Pleas Judge Reeve Kelsey at 1 p.m., court records indicate. Mr. Hill was arrested Thursday after Elyria police acted on a tip gleaned from Facebook, police said.

Mr. Hill was arrested after Elyria police allegedly found him exiting a closet in an Elyria home where he had been staying, Walbridge police Officer Jeff Goetz said.

A Wood County grand jury indicted Mr. Hill on Aug. 8 on felony counts of burglary, abduction, and domestic violence.

Police had searched for Mr. Hill since June 16, when the suspect is accused of barging into the residence of Kristen Hernandez, 22, at the Deluxe Mobile Home Court on Drouillard Road, Officer Goetz said. Ms. Hernandez had reported to police that she was five months’ pregnant at the time. Mr. Hill, Officer Goetz added, had been issued a police order to stay away from the Drouillard Road address because of previous domestic violence cases.

During the Jun 16 episode, Mr. Hill is accused of punching Ms. Hernandez, then striking her multiple times with a broken broomstick. Officer Goetz said the suspect then ordered her and four children into her car, continuing to punch her as she drove, the officer said.

At some point along Manhattan Boulevard in Toledo, Mr. Hill told her to stop the car, jumped out, grabbed her cell phone, and told her not to call the police, police said. Ms. Hernandez drove to her mother’s house and then Mercy St. Charles Hospital for treatment. Hospital staff reported her injuries to Walbridge police.

Police Chief Kenneth Frost, who reported to the scene in June, said he wasn’t sure what specific injuries Ms. Hernandez suffered, but she appeared in bad shape.

“The injuries that I saw in the aftermath, I would consider them somewhat severe,” Chief Frost said Friday. Hospital officials that evening reassured him that Ms. Hernandez’s unborn baby did not appear to be in danger, he said.

Officer Goetz said Mr. Hill’s mother, Ramona Billingsley, who lives in Vermilion, Ohio, became involved this week after Mr. Hill was accused of threatening her. She went to Vermilion police and alerted them to the alleged threat and told them her son was wanted by Walbridge police, Vermilion police Sgt. Gordon Adams said.

The mother said her son might be in north-central Ohio, possibly staying with a friend in Elyria. Sergeant Adams said police dispatcher Bridget Rutherford found recent Facebook activity between the friend and Mr. Hill and turned up an address. Sergeant Adams said his department alerted Elyria police, who converged on a South Abbe Road home.

An acquaintance of Mr. Hill’s, Jenna Yeo, answered the door and allegedly denied he was in the house. Police asked to search the residence, and permission was granted. After police found Mr. Hill, he was taken to the Lorain County jail, and Ms. Yeo was arrested and charged with obstructing official business.