Ohio man arraigned in hotel incident
The Ohio man accused of trying to rape a housekeeper at a North Strabane Township hotel last week after he reportedly threatened to shoot someone, prompting the evacuation of the building and a response by dozens of police officers, was arraigned Monday on several charges.
John Duncan Heina, 31, of North Ridgeville, was arraigned before District Judge Jay Weller of charges of unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, terroristic threats, terroristic threats causing evacuation of a building and serious public inconvenience, attempted rape, indecent assault and two counts of simple assault.
Township police initially were called to Cambria Suites, 451 Racetrack Road, Thursday morning for a report of a man with a gun threatening to kill someone, as well as himself. He also reportedly spoke of wanting police to kill him, and pulled a fire alarm.
That brought a response from North Strabane police and officers from several departments, as well as the Washington Regional SWAT Team and the county’s Department of Public Safety.
After taking Heina into custody, police learned he went into a room the housekeeper was cleaning. She told police he was nude and overpowered her, preventing her from leaving the room. When he briefly released his grip on her, the housekeeper was able to call the front desk for help. Heina returned to the room, pulled open her blouse and tried to pull down her pants, police said. Two of the woman’s co-workers were able to intervene and remove Heina from the room.
The hotel was locked down while the SWAT team searched for the gun Heina claimed to have, as well as a woman who checked in with him. Neither was found, although his companion later went to the state police barracks, were she talked with police.
Heina was placed in Washington County jail on $100,000 bond. He is scheduled for a March 23 preliminary hearing before Weller.