Sisters plead not guilty to robbery, assault

Staff report

WARREN

Sisters age 21 and 19 pleaded not guilty earlier this week in Warren Municipal Court to a single count each of aggravated robbery, accused of breaking into an apartment last week and assaulting another woman.

Bond was set at $15,000 each for Jessica Mason, 21, of East Liberty Street, Girard, and Monica A. Mason, 19, of the Liberty Street address and Third Street in Masury.

A deputy with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office was working security at the Stone Gate Apartments on Robert Avenue Northwest on Sept. 17 when a man approached him and reported that his girlfriend had been assaulted.

The victim told the deputy she heard knocking at her door, and her 5-year-old son opened it.

Monica Mason, an ex-girlfriend of the victim’s current boyfriend, entered the apartment and started choking her, the victim said. Mason’s sister, Jessica, also entered the apartment, pushed the victim into the couch, and Monica Mason started hitting her with her hands, the victim said. The male said he got out of the shower and pushed both Masons out of the apartment.

The deputy saw redness on the victim’s neck and viewed security video, which confirmed that the Masons entered the apartment after the door opened up and that Monica Mason pushed her way inside, a police report said.