COSHOCTON − A day of tubing on the river and drinking alcohol didn’t mix for a Zanesville man who will be spending at least seven years in prison after breaking a woman’s orbital socket and headbutting a police officer.
Ryan C. Bowen, 30, was originally indicted in August on one count of felonious assault, a first-degree felony; and assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, in connection with an incident on July 4. The indictment was amended in October to add a second felonious assault charge, a second-degree felony, and one count of disrupting a public service, a fourth-degree felony, relating to a cellular device.
Bowen entered guilty pleas to all charges on March 4 in Coshocton County Common Pleas Court with the Coshocton County Prosecutor’s Office agreeing to take no position on sentencing and not to object to bond or a pre-sentence investigation.
Judge Robert Batchelor sentenced Bowen on April 27 to an aggregate term of seven to nine years in prison for all charges. He will serve from two to five years of post release control. Bowen was granted four days of credit for local incarceration.
Victim: ‘I was injured. I was trapped. I was afraid.’
According to the pre-sentence investigation, Bowen and others were tubing on the river and consuming alcohol. He got into an argument with a woman and punched her in the face, breaking her orbital socket and causing a concussion. Bowen also had a fight with the woman’s boyfriend.
Bowen took the female’s phone and wouldn’t let her call for help. The phone was retrieved after about an hour and Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office personnel were called to the 17000 block of Franklin Township Road 279. Deputies used a boat to retrieve Bowen from the river.
Bowen and a deputy had an altercation on the boat and both fell into the river. Bowen struck the deputy in the face with the back of his head while in front of him as other deputies pulled them from the water.
No victims were present in the courtroom. Assistant Prosecutor Katelynn Davis read impact statements from the female victim and her boyfriend. They corroborated information in the pre-sentence investigation and spoke to the severity of injuries.
“I was injured. I was trapped. I was afraid,” the woman wrote in the statement. The Tribune does not identify victims.
Bowen: ‘All a big misunderstanding’
Attorney Keith Melvin said Bowen had cooperated with him during proceedings and he asked Batchelor to consider several letters to the court submitted by friends and co-workers speaking to Bowen’s character.
“This was all a big misunderstanding from the beginning,” Bowen said in court while growing emotional. “I accept responsibility for my actions.”
Batchelor took the character letters and victim impact statement under advisement. He also considered Bowen’s past criminal history, which included convictions in other counties for improper handling of a firearm, assault, trespassing, breaking and entering, theft, having weapons under disability and receiving stolen property.
“What’s telling there is we have a felony assault and we have two more felonious assaults here. While the court has considered the mitigation, which is really Mr. Bowen’s plea of guilty and acceptance of responsibility for these matters, the court has to weigh the harm caused and the defendant’s prior criminal record,” Batchelor stated in determining a sentence.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Zanesville man sentenced for assaulting woman during July 4 altercation
Reporting by Leonard L. Hayhurst, Coshocton Tribune / Coshocton Tribune
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