Three Women Injured in Franklin Avenue Attack

A Kent man and two women from Cuyahoga Falls and Akron have been charged with felonious assault after an incident Sunday on Franklin Avenue that sent two women to the hospital for injuries including a broken nose and “apparent broken bones.”

Arrested by at 3:10 a.m. Sunday and charged with two counts each of second-degree felonious assault and one count each of assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, were:

• Alfonso William Rankin Chionchio, 24, of 707 Berkeley St. in Kent
• Amelia Laurel Jones, 23, formerly of Kent, now of Cuyahoga Falls
• Angela Marie Tavernaris, 23, of Akron

Kent Police Lt. Paul Canfield said the incident began around 2 a.m. when three women were walking home from the downtown bars and encountered the three suspects.

“They passed by that group of suspects, and the suspects started to taunt the victims. The victims tried to let the suspects go on their way and didn’t engage them. But, eventually, the victims were attacked a couple hundred feet down the road, near (the intersection of) Franklin and West Williams,” Canfield said.

The two groups separated for short period of time, “but then the suspects came back and attacked again. From what I can tell, the attack consisted of some punches and kicks, including a number of strikes to the victims’ faces,” Canfield explained.

One of the victims called 911 at 2:39 a.m. Canfield said the women were able to tell police where the suspects had gone after the attack and provided police with positive identifications after the suspects were arrested at 3:10 a.m. at 551 Franklin Ave.

The victims were:

• Sarah E. Mikita, 23, of Bainbridge, who was taken to the hospital by a EMS squad for a broken nose
• Carrie A. Melia, 23, of Boardman, who was taken to the hospital by a Kent EMS squad for “apparent broken bones”
• Katherine D. Mikita, 25, of Kent, who police said had a minor injury that did not require treatment

After being arrested, Chionchio, Jones and Tavernaris were booked at the Kent Police Department, then taken to the Portage County jail.

According to Portage County Court online records, all three suspects were arraigned Monday. Chionchio’s pretrial was set for 10:15 a.m. Friday in . A preliminary hearing for Jones will be held at 9:15 a.m. Friday in Kent, followed at 10 a.m. by Tavernaris’ hearing.

Chionchio has a lengthy online court file, including an October 2007 charge of possessing a weapon under disability, a third-degree felony, that netted him a four-year prison sentence.