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LISBON -- There's still no resolution in the case against Ashley Croley for allegedly escaping from a Lisbon community-based lockup, stealing a car and running over the owner's foot while fleeing, so the Feb. 5 jury trial remains set.
Croley appeared Friday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for a status hearing in the case. Her defense attorney, James Wise, met with her briefly before the hearing.
"This case is unresolved," Washam said, according to what he was told by Wise prior to the hearing.
County Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech said an offer was made, but there had been no substantive negotiations. He said he would leave the opportunity open for a plea negotiation until Tuesday.
When the judge asked Wise if he intended to have further negotiations, Wise said he was always willing to talk. As for the previous offer, he said, "My client is not willing to accept that offer."
She had been in jail since her arrest on Sept. 28, but recently posted bail of $75,000 cash or surety to get out.
Charges against Croley include felonious assault, a second-degree felony, third-degree felonies of escape and vehicular assault and fourth-degree felony grand theft of a motor vehicle. Before U.S. Marshals found her in Youngstown in September, she had been on the run since Aug. 5 when she allegedly escaped from the Eastern Ohio Correction Center, a community-based facility for women, in Lisbon.
After the alleged escape, she walked to East of Chicago Pizza, also on North Market Street, where she allegedly stole a blue Chevy Cobalt, then ran over the foot of Timothy Felt when he came outside from picking up an order and saw her taking off with his car. She had been in the EOCC as a requirement of probation for a previous drug charge after she violated the terms of community control.
Croley also appeared in Mahoning County Court in Canfield Friday on a fifth-degree felony breaking and entering charge for an alleged break-in on Dec. 10, 2022 in Beaver Township. She waived a preliminary hearing and her case was bound over to the Mahoning County Grand Jury.
Another fifth-degree felony charge of breaking and entering remains pending in the Mahoning County Court in Boardman, with a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 30. The charge stems from a Sept. 13, 2023 incident in Boardman.