A 29-year-old New Albany man is facing a felonious assault charge after he allegedly drove his car into a woman, then continued driving with her on the hood for 50 feet before she fell off and suffered serious injuries to her face. Andrew Bartschy was in court Tuesday, where a judge set his bail at $50,000.
The incident happened on October 8, according to WTVG, which reported that Bartschy is alleged to have driven into the victim before she ended up clinging to the hood of his car as he kept driving. The station reported that the woman fell off after the 50-foot stretch, resulting in serious facial injuries. WTVG's report does not identify the woman or detail her condition or recovery since the incident.
Bail Set, Hearing Set for Next Week
Bartschy had his bail set at $50,000 during a court appearance this week, the station's report states. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for November 10, though it remains to be seen what will come of that proceeding.
Details beyond those reported by WTVG are limited. No police report or court filing has been made public describing the precise location of the October 8 incident or what led up to it, and it is not yet known whether the November 10 hearing will proceed as scheduled.
A Similar Case Played Out in North Carolina
Bartschy's case bears some resemblance to an incident last month in Lenoir County, North Carolina, where 23-year-old Janecia Greenfield-Williams was accused of driving 4.6 miles with her boyfriend on the hood of her car, according to WALB. Deputies said she reached speeds of up to 60 miles per hour and swerved while her boyfriend clung to the hood, and that her 3-year-old child was also in the car at the time. The boyfriend was assessed and released without injuries, deputies told WALB, and Greenfield-Williams was arrested on several charges, including felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The two cases are unconnected, and the available reporting does not point to any broader pattern tying them together.
Ohio law treats felonious assault as a serious felony offense; the Ohio Revised Code's felonious assault statute describes certain circumstances, such as when a victim is a peace officer or state criminal-investigation bureau investigator who suffers serious physical harm, as a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory prison term. It is not established whether that specific provision applies to Bartschy's case, and the law's general felonious assault provisions cover a range of circumstances beyond that example.
