A dispute over a dog sold without permission escalated into a violent attack on West Eighth Street near Trenton Avenue in West Price Hill, leaving two women with fractured jaws, according to court records. Antoine James, 38, was booked into Hamilton County custody three weeks after the alleged assault, facing felonious assault, assault, and aggravated menacing charges.
Court records cited by WKRC indicate James punched a woman during an argument about a dog he owned that had been sold without his permission on July 30. When a second woman tried to intervene and stop the assault, James allegedly punched her as well, according to the same court records. Both women reportedly suffered fractured jaws in the altercation.
Public booking records reviewed on Facebook show James was taken into Hamilton County custody on August 21, roughly three weeks after the alleged attack. At booking, he also faced traffic charges of driving without a license and reckless operation of a motor vehicle, in addition to the felonious assault, assault and aggravated menacing counts tied to the July 30 incident.
What the Charges Could Mean for James
Under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.11, felonious assault is a second-degree felony when a person knowingly causes serious physical harm to another, and it carries a mandatory prison sentence of 2 to 8 years along with potential fines up to $15,000, according to the Watson Kuhlman, LLC law firm. Serious physical harm under that statute includes injuries causing acute pain or substantial, even temporary, disfigurement or physical incapacity.
The aggravated menacing charge James faces is a first-degree misdemeanor under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.21, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, per the Botnick Law Firm. That charge requires proof the victim reasonably believed the offender would cause serious physical harm, distinguishing it from standard menacing. The separate assault count, a first-degree misdemeanor under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.13, also carries a maximum 180-day jail term and $1,000 fine, according to Smith Law.
A History of Similar Charges
Court records show this is not James's first brush with charges stemming from disputes that turned physical. The First District Court of Appeals of Ohio affirmed a Hamilton County Municipal Court conviction against James for aggravated menacing in September 2022, stemming from a New Year's Day 2021 family argument over a card game in which he was accused of grabbing a pot of money before an altercation broke out.
In a separate case, the same appellate court reviewed a conviction against James in August 2022 for a November 2019 misdemeanor assault of a female victim, upholding his 180-day Hamilton County jail sentence. Appellate judges corrected procedural sentencing errors in that case but let the maximum jail term stand.
A Corridor Under Scrutiny
The site of the alleged assault falls under Cincinnati Police Department District 3, which operates out of 2300 Ferguson Road and serves 14 West Side neighborhoods covering roughly 20 square miles and 95,000 residents. West Price Hill is part of Cincinnati's broader Price Hill area, annexed by the city in 1902 and home to a combined 36,271 residents across its three sections, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
The West Eighth Street corridor has drawn law enforcement attention before this summer. In a cold-case indictment unsealed on the 3900 block in July, detectives relied on updated DNA testing from the Hamilton County Coroner's Crime Laboratory to reopen a dormant 2010 case. That same month, a shooting into an occupied home on Manss Avenue led to felonious assault charges against a teenager, part of a string of violent incidents that have prompted residents and community leaders to call for increased police patrols in West Price Hill this summer.
It remains unclear whether bond has been set for James in Hamilton County Municipal Court, and the current condition of the two injured women has not been disclosed in available court records.
