Police charge South Side man with kidnapping, assault charges

YOUNGSTOWN — The man whose Glenwood Avenue home was surrounded by police earlier this month will have his case heard by a Mahoning County grand jury.

Charges of kidnapping, felonious assault and having a weapon under the disability of a previous conviction were filed against Hester Howell Jr., 38, on July 8. The charges were bound over to a grand jury on Thursday from municipal court.

His 41-year-old girlfriend told police he accused her of infidelity, forced her to strip and punched her repeatedly before firing three rounds between her legs as she sat on the floor.

She escaped, naked, and a passer-by took her to call police. Officers surrounded the house and lobbed tear gas into it but Howell wasn’t there. He was arrested the same day of the attack, July 8, when found walking on Erie Street.