By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — Preston S. Gilbert was arraigned for felonious assault. Judge Jonathan P. Hein presided.

Gilbert, 24, of Union City, OH, entered a not guilty plea in court Tuesday to the sole count of felonious assault, a felony of the second degree. If found guilty, he faces anywhere between zero to eight years in prison and zero to $15,000 in fines.

Gilbert allegedly held his girlfriend and her daughter captive at the 300 block of North Walnut Street for six days. The female sustained multiple injuries including those allegedly caused by Gilbert using a box-cutter to cut her.

State Prosecutor James Bennett advised the court there could be more charges coming, and he said the defendant is a flight risk.

“The defendant was previously on another Domestic Violence case, and he was OR’d. Gilbert spent that week working on this current case,” Bennett said. He fled to the state of Indiana with the help of a neighbor, and they found him in a crawl space.”

Bennett advised it would be his position to state Gilbert is a flight risk, there should be a no contact order, and he asked for a $150,000 bond. Gilbert, who recently had three disorderly conduct charges since October 2021 and a domestic violence case, advised the court on his perspective of the incident.

“I did not flee, I walked,” Gilbert said. “I don’t know how the police did not see me with a lime green hoodie on. I also was not in a crawl space. I was sitting in a basement to get warm.”

Gilbert talked about bond and advised the court, he only had one request. He said he is the only mechanic at his job and doesn’t know what they are going to do without him. He also wished to be granted a personal recognizance bond in order to sell some possessions and work to obtain a lawyer.

Judge Hein set Gilbert’s bond at $95,000, appointed Randall Breaden, and scheduled Gilbert’s next preliminary hearing for Nov. 28.

To contact Daily Advocate reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].