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Police Briefs 6/15/17

Clay County Sheriff's Office
Posted 6/14/17

Pipe, threats end in assault chargeMIDDLEBURG – Police arrested a Middleburg man June 12 while responding to reports of a disturbance in the 100 block of Melanie Avenue.According to the Clay …

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Police Briefs 6/15/17


Posted

Pipe, threats end in assault charge
MIDDLEBURG – Police arrested a Middleburg man June 12 while responding to reports of a disturbance in the 100 block of Melanie Avenue.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, James Dean Cope, 30, faces a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The arrest was made at 9:33 p.m.
Police said Cope drove to the victim’s house with a pipe and made verbal threats. The victim said another man convinced Cope to leave the victim’s house and go back to a nearby house on Melanie Avenue, police said. The report states the victim personally knew Cope because he often visits the family, police said.
After interviewing multiple witnesses, police said, Cope was arrested and transported to the Clay County Jail. Police said no weapon was taken from Cope; however, officers saw multiple long objects in the back of the truck. The police report also notes tire ruts near the end of the victim’s driveway.
Cope has since been released from jail on an undisclosed bond.

Car repo turns violent
MIDDLEBURG – Police said a South Carolina woman was arrested June 12 after a violent response to having her vehicle repossessed.
Ginger Leigh Westmoreland, 57, of Traveler’s Rest, S.C., faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and shooting missiles into an occupied vehicle. The police report states the incident occurred at 4:15 a.m. in the 2400 block of Quarterhorse Trail and the arrest was made at 6:36 a.m.
Victim Joshua Blake Longly told police he drove to the 2400 block of Quarterhorse Trail to repossess a vehicle, the police report states. Police said after Longly had the vehicle loaded on his truck, the owner came out of the house, removed her belongings from the vehicle and went back inside. The report states Westmoreland then came out of the house and got a handgun from her car. Longly said Westmoreland fired shots at Longly’s truck, police said, and he drove away and called police.
Police said Longly’s vehicle had a flat tire with a small hole in it. Westmoreland was arrested and transported to the Clay County Jail where, at press time, she remained with bond set at $20,006.

Sex charge for Jax man
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Jacksonville man faces a felony charge of capital sexual battery, according to a Clay County Sheriff’s Office report.
Police arrested Joshua Aaron Ruffolo, 31, on June 9 after police said an investigation found he performed oral sex and digitally penetrated the victim multiple times between October 2016 and May 2017.
According to the police report, Ruffolo came to the Orange Park Substation at 212 Blanding Blvd for an interview June 9. Police said officers told Ruffolo he was not in custody and was free to leave at any time. After the interview, police said, Ruffolo was arrested and transported to the Clay County Jail, where he remained held without bond at press time.

Drug arrest at mall
ORANGE PARK – Police arrested a Middleburg woman outside the Orange Park Mall at 9:17 p.m. June 10 after police found heroin was in her purse.
Shalee Alyse Penrose, 20, faces one count each of heroin possession and methamphetamine possession.
Police said the officer was patrolling the area and began speaking with Penrose in front of Dick’s Sporting Goods. The officer searched her purse and found 1.7 grams of a substance which tested positive for heroin using a field test kit, the police report states. Penrose was arrested and transported to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
At press time, she remained held in the Clay County Jail with bond set at $30,006.

Firearm theft leads to arrest
MIDDLEBURG – Police said an investigation led to an additional charge for a Maxville man already being held in the Clay County Jail. Derek Shane Carter Jr., 20, was arrested May 24 on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police added a felony charge of grand theft of a firearm on June 9.
Police said Mark Boyle reported firearms stolen from his home on Parsley Avenue May 24. An investigation found Carter was invited to the residence on May 22 by someone else who lived there, the police report states. Police said Carter left the home with the firearms, which he knew were Boyle’s.
According to the police report, police identified the firearm used in the aggravated assault incident as Boyle’s using the serial number.
Boyle valued the stolen firearms at $490, police said. Meanwhile, his bond has been increased to $150,009.

Molestation arrest for Oklahoma man
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Police arrested a man June 10 on a felony charge of molestation on a victim under 12 years of age.
A Clay County judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Richard Shane Cronic Jr., 42, of Yukon, Okla., on May 24 after police spoke with the victim and the victim’s mother. According to the warrant, Cronic allegedly molested the victim multiple times between March 2013 and May 2017.
Police said the victim told her mother about the incidents on May 13. Officers met the victim and her mother, the warrant states. Cronic had fled to Oklahoma, where he has family and at the time the warrant was issued, he had not been contacted directly by law enforcement, police said.
Cronic was arrested at 1:20 p.m. At press time, he remained held without bond in the Clay County Jail.