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Suspect in Poland jogger attack indicted in Portage County
By Joe Gorman
RAVENNA
A Hillsville, Pa., man who was indicted Thursday in the attack on a jogger in Poland was indicted Friday by a grand jury in Portage County Common Pleas Court on 14 counts of rape and kidnapping involving alleged attacks on a trail at Berlin Lake in Deerfield.
Shawn Wendling, 37, who also has an address in Canton, is in the Portage County jail on $1 million bond, where he was taken after being arrested Sept. 7 by police in Poland.
Court records do not list an arraignment date for the charges, which also include aggravated robbery, felonious assault for “great physical harm” to the victims and disrupting public service.
Friday’s indictments cover attacks June 14 and Aug. 13 in Portage County at Berlin Lake.
In Mahoning County, Wendling is accused of raping and robbing a 30-year-old female jogger in Poland Township Park on Sept. 4, according to the indictment.
Authorities managed to track Wendling down by using DNA. At the time of his arrest, Wendling was a suspect in the Poland attack and was being interviewed by police there when the DNA match came back for one of the Portage County attacks. He was then taken from Poland to the Portage County jail. He was arraigned in Portage County court for that attack and was given a bond of $1 million.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Poland Township police, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Portage County Drug Task Force, Portage County Park District, Stark County Park District and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation contributed to the investigative effort.
The investigation began after two women reported sexual assaults on Berlin Lake Trail on June 14 and Aug. 13. Both victims reported a male suspect pushed them down an embankment and took their belongings after sexually assaulting them.
DNA testing linked these two incidents to a report of a woman in Poland Township Park who was raped and robbed while jogging Tuesday morning, as well as two other incidents in Stark County.
Reports said Wendling confessed when he was arrested by Poland police.
Investigators used what is called “familial DNA,” or DNA from a family member of Wendling’s who is incarcerated for a crime, to link him to the crimes.