3 face charges after altercation at Hilltop Motel

Three people were arrested after an argument at a motel off U.S. 31, including one man found in a tree.

Sheriff’s deputies went to the Hilltop Motel, on U.S. 31 north of Edinburgh, twice Wednesday night.

After the first call, police arrested Christopher McFarland, 26, 150 Indiana Court, Columbus, on a charge of battery, false reporting and having an out-of-county warrant.

Police said he had punched a woman in the face while drunk, then broken a window and ran out of a motel room once the sheriff’s office was called. Officers found McFarland in a nearby field, according to the police report.

Deputies then returned to the motel to speak with the woman who was punched and ended up arresting both her and her boyfriend.

When deputies were asking for details about what happened, the man’s name did not match the photo on his state I.D. They looked up the man’s actual identity, Ricky Schoonover, 27, Columbus, and found he had a warrant, the report said.

Deputies told Schoonover that he was going to be arrested, and he ran away. Deputies brought out a police dog to help search for the man and found him in a tree, the report said.

Schoonover, 724 Hutchens St., was arrested on charges of false reporting, forgery, resisting law enforcement and having an out-of-county warrant and transported to Johnson County jail. He was being held without bond.

Schoonover’s girlfriend, Ashley Mills, 21, 1544 Thresher Drive, Columbus, also was arrested after she gave deputies a fake name for her boyfriend. She was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and assisting a criminal, and was released on $2,200 bond.

McFarland was being held without bond.