A Lake County man will spend at least a decade in prison after admitting he kidnapped and assaulted his girlfriend during a violent roadside ordeal that started in Perry Township, according to sheriff's deputies. On Monday, a judge ordered the man to serve a minimum of 10 years and up to 12 years behind bars after his guilty plea to kidnapping and felonious assault. The victim, a 32-year-old woman, suffered non-life-threatening injuries after the man allegedly forced her into his pickup at gunpoint and fired a round through the vehicle, deputies said. She escaped and sought help in the Geneva area, and officers arrested the suspect soon after.
How deputies say it unfolded
Investigators say deputies were called on June 10, 2025 to a residence on Madison Avenue in Perry Township for a reported kidnapping. According to the sheriff's office, the boyfriend used a firearm to force the woman into his truck, then headed toward Geneva. Along the way, he allegedly fired a round through the roof of the truck, striking her while she was still inside the vehicle. Those details are laid out in a press release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Plea and sentencing
The defendant was identified by authorities as 32-year-old Stephen T. Pekarski of Geneva, described as the woman's boyfriend. Court proceedings show Pekarski appeared in Lake County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 27 and pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping, a first-degree felony with a firearm specification, and one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony with a firearm specification. The guilty plea and resulting sentence were detailed in a release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office. Local station WOIO also covered the hearing and local court action, reporting that Judge Vincent A. Culotta presided over both the plea and Monday's sentencing, which set Pekarski's prison term at a minimum of 10 years and as many as 12 years.
Legal context
Ohio law sets statutory sentencing ranges for first- and second-degree felonies and allows judges to choose minimum terms within those ranges. First-degree felonies carry one broad multi-year range, and second-degree felonies are sentenced under a separate range. On top of that, firearm specifications can add mandatory prison time that must be served consecutively to the underlying offense. Specifications that involve having, displaying or using a gun can trigger multi-year enhancements, which helps explain the decade-long minimum imposed in this case. The framework is laid out in the Ohio Revised Code, including Section 2929.14 and Section 2941.145.
Investigation and next steps
The Lake County Detective Bureau, led by bureau commander Lt. Larry Harpster according to the sheriff's website, handled the investigation into the June incident. Neither the sheriff's post nor local news coverage has disclosed a possible motive, and prosecutors have not released additional records beyond the plea and sentencing notices, according to a release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office and coverage cited by WOIO. Any future filings, appeals or court motions will be reflected in Lake County Common Pleas Court records and on the clerk's docket.
