YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Bond was set at $75,000 for an East Midlothian Boulevard man accused of pushing a wheelchair-bound man down a flight of stairs and stealing his SUV.
Howard Ahart, 59, was arraigned in municipal court before Judge Carla Baldwin on charges of felonious assault, kidnapping and theft of a motor vehicle.
Ahart has been in the Mahoning County Jail since his arrest about 10:15 a.m. Friday. He is expected to have a preliminary hearing May 31.
Reports said police were called Saturday morning to a home on Kenneth Avenue by a man who said Ahart came to his home about 7 p.m. Thursday. He told police that the two were talking when Ahart pushed the man’s wheelchair towards the basement steps and tilted it forward, causing the man to tumble down the steps, the report stated.
The man remained downstairs for several hours before he was finally able to climb the steps to the door, only to find that it had a chair pushed up against it. Reports said the man made several attempts to push the door open before he was finally able to do so.
A neighbor who checks on the man regularly because he is disabled found him Friday morning and called police. Paramedics also examined the man, reports said. The man’s wallet and keys to his SUV were also missing when police arrived, reports said.
Reports said police spotted the SUV on McGuffey Road and watched it as pulled into a gas station, then pulled out again. It was pulled over on Albert Street and Ahart was driving, reports said. He was taken into custody there.