Two-day trial set for motorist accused of felony assault against WPD officer

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WILMINGTON — A jury trial is scheduled for a woman accused of felonious assault of a police officer.

On Tuesday in Clinton County Common Pleas Court, a two-day jury trial was scheduled to begin on May 11. Zoe Scanlon, 23 — currently incarcerated at the Clinton County Jail — faces three felony charges including felonious assault (F1), resisting arrest (F4), and failure to comply (F3).

A second felonious assault charge was dismissed.

Clinton County Public Defender Alycia Bemmes requested the bond be lowered from $100,000 to $10,000. One of the reasons was because a second felonious assault charge was dismissed.

“That charge was dismissed upon review of medical records. There was no indication of any serious harm to the officer,” said Bemmes.

Assistant County Prosecutor Katie Wilkin argued against it due to the circumstances of the case and how the officer was injured. Wilkin also cited a pending case in Montgomery County related to firearm charges.

The requested bond change was denied.

Scanlon’s charges stem from an incident in November after Wilmington Police conducted a traffic stop for an unsafe vehicle violation.

According to an affidavit filed, Scanlon allegedly gave false information of her identity to an officer. However, the officer reportedly recognized her and questioned her about her identity, after which she admitted her identity.

It was discovered that Scanlon had an active warrant for her arrest for a probation violation stemming from a summer 2020 conviction for having an unauthorized concealed firearm.

According to the affidavit, after the officer informed Scanlon she was under arrest and started to place handcuffs on her, she reportedly was still sitting in the driver’s seat and “quickly started the vehicle.”

Scanlon was allegedly attempting to flee and the officer, at the driver side door with it open, was concerned the driver would hit nearby pedestrians. The officer “decided to intervene by grabbing the steering column or gearshift to prevent an accident with pedestrians,” according to the affidavit.

The affidavit continues, “Zoe [the driver] excessively accelerated eastbound on West Locust Street from Swindler’s parking lot with Officer Wages attached to the vehicle. Zoe drove the vehicle into the building of Dominos Pizza causing a considerable amount of damage. Upon crashing into Dominos, Officer (Morgan) Wages’ body was vertical from the rapid acceleration from start to end and crashed into the driver side door and building head first.”

Scanlon then allegedly placed the vehicle into reverse to flee the scene while Wages was lying on the ground next to the vehicle, the affidavit states. Scanlon was eventually apprehended.

Officer Wages was transported to Clinton Memorial Hospital by Officer Patrick Black in his patrol vehicle.

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By John Hamilton

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Reach John Hamilton at 937-382-2574

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