A Bellefontaine man pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony recently in Logan County Common Pleas Court, following a violent incident that reportedly began over an empty container of ice cream and ended with him physically assaulting a woman.
Donte Stenson, 33, admitted to one count of felonious assault on Thursday, Dec. 5. The plea stems from an August altercation at a residence in the 600 block of North Main Street.
Stenson was indicted in September on charges including kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and disrupting public services, a fourth-degree felony, in addition to the felonious assault charge.
Officers of the Bellefontaine Department were dispatched shortly after 1 a.m. Aug. 16 to the residence on a report of domestic violence. Officers found Stenson and a woman on the floor, with the victim showing visible swelling and bruising above her left eye.
The victim reported that Stenson had physically assaulted her multiple times during an argument over food. Stenson reportedly had been staying with the victim and her son for the past two weeks, and he complained her son ate all the food in the house.
According to the victim, the argument began after Stenson discovered that her son had eaten all the ice cream from the freezer. According to an incident report, Stenson began destroying household items, including emptying the refrigerator, overturning a table and knocking a television off a bedroom table.
The victim said Stenson wrestled her to the ground, dragged her by the hair and tore her shirt. When she tried to call 911, he reportedly took her phone by force.
Stenson resisted officers’ attempts to take him into custody at the scene. He refused to enter the patrol car, and officers used a Taser on him twice in order to subdue him.
Bellefontaine Fire and EMS transported Stenson to Mary Rutan Hospital for treatment. He was taken into custody and lodged in the Logan County Jail. Stenson is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 3.