ASHLAND – After the victim testified in a preliminary hearing Thursday, Ashland County Common Pleas Magistrate Paul Lange determined there was probable cause to bind the case against Brett Poindexter over to a grand jury.
Poindexter is accused of aggravated robbery and abduction, according to a complaint from the Ashland Post of Ohio Highway Patrol. The alleged crimes are first and third degree felonies, respectively. Poindexter pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Victim Stacy Martin testified that he was pulling out of his driveway in Wooster to drive to work in Mansfield when Poindexter, who was a stranger to him, got into the passenger seat of Martin’s car. Poindexter then made a comment about Martin’s race, something like, “I’m glad you’re a white brother,” and asked for a ride to a Speedway gas station, according to Martin’s testimony. It was around 3:30 a.m., Aug. 8.
Martin said he declined several times to give Poindexter a ride, but when Poindexter would not get out of the vehicle, Martin consented to take him to Speedway, which was less than a mile from Martin’s house.
That’s when Poindexter pulled out a pocket knife and said “I want to show you something,” Martin said.
Martin said Poindexter held a black-handled pocket knife with an approximately four-inch silver blade near Martin’s face for three to five seconds and said something about the weapon not being dangerous.
Martin testified he never saw the weapon again, but he worried Poindexter might stab him and he believed the knife could be deadly. Martin said Poindexter seemed to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and smelled faintly of alcohol.
Martin said he decided to try to build a rapport with Poindexter “to keep him happy.”
“I was worried what he might do… I didn’t know his mind frame, if he would stab me,” Martin said.
Before the pair arrived at Speedway, Martin testified, Poindexter asked Martin to take him to Ashland instead. Martin said he agreed to take Poindexter to Hayesville, which was on his way to Mansfield.
Martin told Poindexter he would stop for gas in Hayesville, and Poindexter asked Martin to go to an ATM to withdraw money for Poindexter. Poindexter first asked for $20, then upped the amount to $50, and later said he wanted $100 for a bus ticket to West Virginia.
Martin said he saw that as an opportunity to make a phone call, so as he drove west on U.S. 30, Martin told Poindexter he was going to call his wife to see how much money was in their account.
Instead of calling his wife, Martin called 911.
“When the operator answered, I said, ‘Hey babe, I’m calling because I need to stop and get gas in my car, and I need to know what our account balance is,” Martin said.
Martin testified that he had to call 911 several times because the dispatcher thought he was a prank caller and hung up. Eventually, a dispatcher recognized it was an emergency situation and asked him “yes” or “no” questions to ascertain the situation.
Martin stopped at the Marathon Gas Station and BellStores in Hayesville, where he started to pump gas and attempted to distance himself from Poindexter while awaiting the arrival of law enforcement. Martin said he was concerned that if he was close to Poindexter when the officers arrived, Poindexter might attempt to hold Martin hostage.
So Martin went into the store, asked a clerk to call 911 and began withdrawing cash from the ATM.
Poindexter followed Martin into the store, but around that time, Ohio Highway Patrol officers arrived and arrested Poindexter.
During cross-examination, Poindexter’s attorney, Bernard Davis, repeatedly asked Martin whether the defendant verbally threatened him and whether Poindexter pointed the knife at Martin throughout the car ride.
Martin testified that while Poindexter did neither of those things, Martin still felt threatened.
“He didn’t just show me the knife because he was a six-year-old kid that got a new Christmas present,” Martin said. “He had intention to show me the knife.”
Martin said he felt harassed by Davis’s repeated questions, and the magistrate sustained an objection from Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell.
“The question has been asked and answered,” Magistrate Lange said.
The magistrate then ordered the case be bound over to a grand jury to consider indictment, and he set a further hearing for 1 p.m., Sept. 18.
