Austintown man receives additional charge for family incident

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

A man was arraigned Monday after additional charges from an incident Jan. 5 were filed.

Christopher L. Check, 26, of Westgate Boulevard, was arrested Jan. 5 after he was accused of choking and striking his ex-girlfriend four to five times in the face with an open hand after kicking an unidentified male out of the home.

He was arraigned Jan. 7 on misdemeanor domestic violence and three counts of misdemeanor aggravated menacing and he entered a plea of not guilty.

He posted bond Jan. 6, which was set at $6,250 cash or surety bond. A trial date is scheduled for Jan. 28.

He also was arraigned on a felony kidnapping charge Jan. 6 and has a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 28, the same time as his aggravated burglary preliminary hearing. His bond was set at $50,000 in each of the felony cases, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Check’s stepmother called police at 10:34 a.m. Jan. 5 because Check had a handgun in the waistband of his pants and “threatened to kill everyone in the house if she did not get rid of the police,” a police report detailed.

Once Check’s father arrived home at 12:15 p.m., Check turned the gun over to his father and argued with people in the home.

After sleeping for a time, arguing began again about 7 p.m. and Check’s father called the police.

Check then purportedly head-butted his ex-girlfriend and grabbed her by the throat to choke her, the report said. He then took her phone, purse and the wallet of a friend and left.

Vienna Township police identified Check’s truck in the driveway of his mother’s home and he was taken into custody.

He was arraigned last week on charges of kidnapping and domestic violence and then a charge of felony aggravated robbery was filed Jan. 8. He was arraigned Monday on that charge, in which he couldn’t enter a plea due to the charge being a felony.