A 24-year-old man wanted on charges of strangulation, domestic violence and endangering children has been named Fugitive of the Week by the U.S. Marshals Service, more than a month after he allegedly bolted from his sister's car during a Boardman police pursuit and vanished into a residential neighborhood. Stacey D. Mahone Jr. has not been caught, and investigators believe he could be hiding around Youngstown or Cleveland.
The chase began on August 12 when Boardman police officers spotted Mahone as a passenger in a vehicle on Mathews Road and attempted a traffic stop, according to WKBN. Mahone already had multiple felony warrants out for his arrest at the time. Rather than stop, the vehicle sped off, triggering a brief pursuit that ended with Mahone running from the car. According to The Vindicator, officers had recognized Mahone walking out of the Y-Smoke shop on Mathews Road just before he climbed into his sister's vehicle.
A Sister's Drive, a Child in the Backseat
The driver was identified as Mahone's 26-year-old sister, Lee'Aysia L. Mahone, who allegedly hit speeds of up to 56 mph down Mathews Road once officers tried to pull the car over, per the same Vindicator report. A child was in the vehicle throughout the pursuit. Mahone ultimately jumped out near 455 Mathews Road and fled on foot into the Applewood Acres neighborhood, according to WKBN, setting off a police K-9 search. The Vindicator's report says the entire incident, from the attempted stop through the foot pursuit, lasted about 45 minutes and prompted nearby residents to lock their doors as the dogs' track went cold near Forest-Ridge Drive.
Officers eventually found Lee'Aysia Mahone in the driveway of 463 Mathews Road — an address listed in court records as her brother's — as she was pulling her child out of the car, the Vindicator reported. She was arrested on felony charges of failure to comply and obstruction, plus a misdemeanor count of child endangering, according to WKBN. Police say the obstruction charge was elevated to a fifth-degree felony because it hindered the apprehension of a wanted felon, per the same account. She reportedly told officers she thought her brother's previous warrants had already been “taken care of,” according to WKBN.
A Pattern of Domestic Violence Arrests in Boardman
Mahone's flight from police was not his first brush with Boardman law enforcement this year. He was wanted on felony domestic-violence charges from January and February, according to the Vindicator's police blotter reporting. Court records show Mahone previously pleaded guilty to domestic violence threats in 2023 and had an active Mahoning County Common Pleas Court docket for felony domestic violence this spring, listed under case 26 CR 53, the Vindicator reported.
The strangulation charge Mahone now faces carries added weight under Ohio law. Ohio Revised Code § 2903.18, enacted through Senate Bill 288 in 2023, made strangulation a standalone felony offense for the first time in the state, with penalties ranging from a fifth-degree to a second-degree felony and up to eight years in prison, according to the Ohio General Assembly. Ohio was the last state in the country to elevate strangulation from a misdemeanor to its own felony charge. Separately, failure to comply with a police officer's order can escalate to a third-degree felony under Ohio Revised Code § 2921.331 when the flight creates a substantial risk of serious harm or follows a felony, a distinction that carries mandatory license suspensions, according to Godinsky Law.
U.S. Marshals Seek Mahone
The U.S. Marshals Service named Mahone Fugitive of the Week, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Mahone is wanted on domestic-violence charges. The U.S. Marshals Service is asking anyone with information on Mahone's whereabouts to call 1-866-4WANTED.
