Second arrest made in Salineville robbery

LISBON - The second suspect in Thursday's daylight robbery/assault of a Salineville-area man was arrested over the weekend after sheriff's deputies found him hiding in his mother's home.

Patrick L. Griffith, 30, Maple Hill Road, Salineville, was charged by the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office with aggravated robbery and kidnapping of David Brown, Malone Road, Salineville.

Brown said he was followed up his long driveway by a motor vehicle containing three people, two of whom he was able to identify as Griffith and Brian L. Wood Jr., 30 Aten Avenue, Wellsville.

According to the sheriff's office, Wood and Griffth reportedly forced their way into the home and Wood proceeded to beat Brown and steal his medication. Wood and Griffith then dragged Brown from the house, forced him into a vehicle and drove to the end of the driveway before releasing him after threatening to shoot him in the head.

While Wood was arrested Thursday night, Griffith remained at large until the sheriff's office received a tip he was at a house trailer on Maple Hill Road. Chief Deputy Sheriff Allen Haueter said deputies arrived at 1:13 p.m. Sunday but Griffith escaped out the back of the trailer. The deputies then followed Griffith's footprints in the snow, which led to his mother's home, where they found him hiding in the attic.

"Of course, we never look in the attic," Haueter said. "I don't know why but they never think we're going to check in the basement or attic."

Meanwhile, Haueter said they were able to identify the third person as Wood's wife, Melanie, but they have yet to determine the extent of her involvement. "We know she was there but we don't know whether she knew what was going on," he said.

Griffith was arraigned Monday in county Municipal Court, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 28. He is being held in the county jail on $200,000 cash or surety bond.