UPDATE @ 11:50 a.m. (Nov. 10):
Travis Wickline pleaded not guilty in Shelby County Common Pleas Court this morning after he was indicted on charges stemming from an officer-involved shooting in Shelby County last month. His bond was set at $500,000.
Ashley Wayson also pleaded not guilty and a $10,000 bond was set.
UPDATE @ 10:54 a.m. (Oct. 26):
Travis Wickline was arraigned on charges of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, failure to comply, kidnapping, weapons under disability, grand theft and domestic violence. A judge set Wickline’s bond at $500,000 cash, which includes the bond for the new charges and existing charges stemming from a July stabbing in Charleston, West Virginia.
Ashley Nicole Wayson was arraigned on a charge of obstructing justice and her bond was set at $500,000, which also includes the new charge and a separate incident she was wanted for in Charleston, West Virginia.
UPDATE @ 12:13 p.m.
Travis Wickline and Ashley Nicole Wayson have been staying at Wickline’s parents’ trailer home for about a month, and investigators are working to find out if they are connected to any recent crimes in the Miami Valley.
Wickline and Wayson are from the Charleston, W.Va. area where warrants were issued for both of them in separate incidents. According to media reports, in late July Wickline was with a different woman when he allegedly stabbed a motorcyclist in Sissonville, W.Va. He’s wanted on a charge of felonious assault in that case.
Shelby County authorities said a friend drove Wickline and Wayson north to Shelby County where they have been staying.
Authorities said they are looking into the possibility that one or both were involved in a recent pursuit in Miami County.
Deputy Joel Howell, who exchanged gunfire with Wickline late Monday night, is on paid administrative leave. He was not injured in the incident.
UPDATE @ 11:56 a.m.
Body camera video has been released from the incident which shows gunfire being exchanged between Travis Wickline and a Shelby County sheriff’s deputy.
UPDATE @ 9:10 a.m.
Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart has issued a press release detailing the events that led to a wanted man facing an attempted murder charge for firing at a deputy.
According to the sheriff’s timeline of events, at 11:05 p.m., the sheriff’s office received a 9-1-1 call. The woman told the dispatcher she’s at the Hidden Valley Trailer Park and a white male just stole her vehicle at gunpoint.
Shelby County Deputy Joel Howell spotted the 2005 Toyota Camry and made a traffic stop in the 5000 block of Ohio 29.
The deputy ordered the driver — Travis Wickline, 27, of Charleston, WVa. — to show his hands and open the car door. The driver exited the vehicle, but then opened fire at the deputy, firing six shots, according to the release.
Howell took cover and returned fire, shooting three rounds toward the vehicle. “After a brief stay, the driver then fled east on 29,” according to the release.
The pursuit lasted approximately 10 minutes and reached speeds in excess of 100 mph. Wickline returned to the trailer park where he struck a sheriff’s cruiser driven by Deputy Frank Bleigh. The cruiser was disabled from the collision and Bleigh was injured. He was taken by a Perry Port Salem Rescue unit to Wilson Health where was treated and released.
Wickline got back onto Ohio 29 and stopped to let a female out of the vehicle. He eventually turned around and drove into the woods off the south side of the roadway in the 4000 block of Ohio 29.
The passenger who was let out — Ashley Nichole Wayson, 31, also of Charleston, was arrested and interviewed by detectives. She gave enough information for the investigators to identify the driver as Wickline, who was wanted in West Virginia on a felonious assault with a weapon charge.
Investigators further determined the pair had been staying with Wickline’s parents at the Hidden Valley Trailer Park. Wickline was located at his parents trailer home and he was arrested without incident, according to the release.
Deputies also recovered the gun that Wickline allegedly used: The .38-caliber revolver was in a coat in the master bedroom of the trailer and it was loaded, according to the release.
Wayson was also wanted in West Virginia for a charge of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. Both warrants indicated Wayson and Wickline should be considered armed and dangerous.
Wickline now faces charges in Shelby County of felonious assault, attempted murder, kidnapping, grand theft auto, weapons under disability and failure to comply with the order or signal of an officer. Wayson is being charged with obstruction of justice.
EARLIER
Chief Deputy Jim Fry of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to a reported armed carjacking at the Pasco Grocery Store at 5881 Ohio 29 around 11:05 p.m. Monday. Fry said the deputy located the vehicle quickly and initialed a felony traffic stop.
The deputy ordered the occupants of the car to put their hands out the window, an order the male driver and female passenger initially complied with.
Fry said the driver, later identified as 27-year-old Travis Wickline of Charleston, West Virginia exited the vehicle during the stop and began firing shots at the deputy. The deputy returned three shots at Wickline, but neither person was hit by gunfire.
Wickline then drove off from the stop, with the woman still in the passenger seat. Deputies initiated a pursuit along Ohio 29, where speeds reached over 100 mph, according to investigators.
Before the end of the pursuit, the woman was able to exit the vehicle and was taken into custody.
“At some point between the shooting and where you see the vehicle where it is now, the female got out of the vehicle because she was scared,” Fry said.
The pursuit continued until Wickline rammed into a K9 officer’s cruiser, disabling the vehicle and injuring the deputy. The deputy was treated and released for minor injuries.
Fry said Wickline fled the area on foot and led deputies on a manhunt. The Ohio State Highway Patrol assisted in the search with both units on the ground and a helicopter.
Fry said during the search, investigators questioned the woman in custody. She later told investigators Wickline could have returned to a trailer park near where the pursuit ended.
“We had the female, and she wasn’t being very forthcoming in the beginning. She started telling the truth and that’s what led us to [the trailer park],” Fry said.
After a nearly four-hour search, deputies approached a unit in the park, and arrested Wickline without incident around 3:05 a.m. Tuesday.
Fry said Wickline and the woman inside the car had active warrants for their arrest in West Virginia.
CBS affiliate WOWK-TV in Charleston, West Virginia reports Wickline was wanted for allegedly stabbing a motorcyclist multiple times on July 31 after an altercation. The male victim was last reported in stable condition, according to WOWK-TV.
A warrant was issued for Wickline’s arrest by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office in West Virginia on Aug. 4.
Fry said Wickline is expected to be charged with kidnapping, felonious assault, and attempted murder of a police officer. More charges are possible, with all charges pending the approval of the Shelby County Prosecutor’s Office.
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