A 30-year-old Elyria woman is facing four counts of felonious assault after police say she deliberately rammed her Ford Focus into a family's Kia and then a stranger's pickup truck during a chaotic confrontation at a gas station on Midway Boulevard. Stephanie Carrion-Lee was arrested following the September 1 altercation at the GetGo station, and a judge has since set her bond at $250,000 as her case heads to a grand jury.
According to the Morning Journal, the confrontation began at around 8:30 p.m. at the GetGo located at 559 Midway Blvd., after Marquisha Blakely and an unidentified man driving a red Ford Focus approached the area near the gas pumps. Police say Blakely's children then approached Carrion-Lee after exiting Blakely's black Kia, setting off a dispute that would soon spill into the parking lot with dangerous consequences. Surveillance footage reviewed by officers, as reported by Lorain Daily, shows Carrion-Lee intentionally backing her Ford Focus into the parked Kia before circling around the gas pumps to strike it a second time.
Per the police report cited by the Morning Journal, Carrion-Lee put her Ford Focus in reverse and struck the driver's side of Blakely's Kia, then struck the vehicle again with the front left side of her bumper. Officers say she nearly struck all of Blakely's children in the process before driving forward around a gas pump and colliding with a parked Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, striking that vehicle a second time as well.
Employee Statement Backs Up Surveillance Video
A GetGo employee who witnessed the incident gave a formal written statement to Elyria police officers during their initial on-scene investigation, according to the same Lorain Daily report. That eyewitness account, paired with the surveillance footage law enforcement pulled from the station's cameras, gave investigators independent corroboration of the vehicle strikes described in the police report.
After the crashes, Carrion-Lee fled the location on foot, per the police report, but an officer soon found her south of the scene in the parking lot in front of 3619 Midway Mall. She was detained without incident. Police say Carrion-Lee now faces four counts of felonious assault, two counts of vandalism, and a charge of disorderly conduct by intoxication.
Other Parties Also Faced Charges
Carrion-Lee was not the only person cited in connection with the incident. Marquisha Blakely was charged with disorderly conduct for her alleged involvement, according to the police report, while three minor-aged children were issued disorderly conduct citations and then released from the scene. Per the same account, authorities referred those juveniles to Lorain County Juvenile Court following the confrontation.
What Ohio Law Says About Vehicles as Weapons
The felonious assault counts Carrion-Lee faces are second-degree felonies under Ohio law, and Ohio courts treat motor vehicles as deadly weapons when they're used to inflict or attempt physical harm, according to Funkhouser Law. Each count under Section 2903.11 of the Ohio Revised Code carries a potential sentence of two to eight years in prison and fines up to $15,000, and the law does not require that a victim actually be injured if a deadly weapon is used in an assault attempt.
The two vandalism counts stem from damage inflicted on both the Kia and the Silverado. Vandalism is charged as a fifth-degree felony under Section 2909.05 of the Ohio Revised Code when someone knowingly damages property necessary for a business or worth $1,000 or more, according to Groth & Associates, which carries a possible six to twelve months behind bars.
Mental Health Evaluation Ordered at Arraignment
Court records show Carrion-Lee was ordered to undergo a mental health examination at her arraignment, a step Ohio courts can order under Section 2945.371 of the Ohio Revised Code to assess whether a defendant is competent to stand trial or to determine their mental state at the time of an alleged offense. That evaluation could shape whether the case proceeds directly to the Lorain County Grand Jury, where it has already been bound over, or whether proceedings pause for competency restoration.
In the meantime, Carrion-Lee is being held at the Lorain County Jail on Murray Ridge Road in Elyria, a 422-bed facility with on-site medical and mental health staff that serves as the county's primary detention center. County commissioners issued a request for qualifications last year to build a larger, 550-bed replacement jail complex adjacent to the current site, reflecting broader pressure on local detention capacity.
A Commercial Strip Already Under the Spotlight
The GetGo at 559 Midway Blvd. operates around the clock near the Interstate 90 corridor in northern Elyria, drawing steady vehicle and pedestrian traffic at all hours. The station sits just down the road from the long-struggling Midway Mall property, which scored a $15.8 million lifeline this year when the Lorain County Port Authority reached a purchase agreement with Industrial Realty Group for redevelopment, part of a wider push to revitalize the commercial corridor.
