Ellwood City Police had been called to a home on Skyline Drive at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. They were told Mitchell Clayton Coulter, 35, of Eastbrook Road, was holding a gun on people inside.

When officers arrived, they were told Coulter had fled out a back door. Police from Koppel and Franklin and North Sewickley townships were then involved in a search for this man. North Sewickley police found Coulter about a half hour later hiding in the Walnut Ridge housing plan on Pershing Street, about two blocks from the incident.

Witnesses inside the house told police that a man and woman were sleeping in their upstairs bedroom and awoke to see Coulter standing over them with a revolver, threatening to shoot them both in the head. They said Coulter was angry with the man because he had “snitched” on a friend of Coulter’s who is going to federal prison for 20 years.

The woman was able to flee to her father’s bedroom to tell him what was happening, and he went in and talked Coulter down. Meanwhile, the woman ran downstairs and called the police. Coulter fled without hurting anyone, police said. Police did not recover the revolver he was alleged to be using.

Coulter is charged with aggravated assault, burglary, trespassing and making terroristic threats. He remained in the Lawrence County Jail on Monday on $50,000 bond.

Man Charged With Simple Assault

On March 13, police were responding to a domestic violence incident between a male and female when they arrived at Austin Houge’s apartment.

There, police heard shouting and screaming in the apartment when they entered the apartment. Houge emerged on top of a stair landing, where police immediately ordered him to the ground face down and detained him. When police noticed the victim standing in the doorway of the second floor, they told them they would do a protective sweep of the apartment.

While doing the sweep they found a suspected marijuana growing operation in a closet, a digital weight scale in the kitchen, and a black safe in the bedroom. There will be a search warrant request for the secured apartment.

The victim was observed with physical injuries as a result of the domestic assault. These injuries include scrapes, cuts, and red wound marks to the neck air, under the left ear, on their right arm, left arm, and left shoulder. The victim described it as Houge throwing her around “like a rag doll”.

The victim said Houge refused to let them leave the apartment, and when they attempted to leave is when Houge began to get physical with her. They stated that he held her down aggressively in the apartment, spit in her face, and Houge smashed her Apple iPhone so they could not call for help. The victim said the cost for a replacement phone would be $200.

Hogue is currently being charged with Simple Assualt, Harassment, and Criminal Mischief.

Wampum Man Fatally Shot
33-year-old Joseph Alan Kelosky was pronounced dead at UPMC Jameson after he was fatally shot in the early morning of Saturday, March 16. New Castle Police reported to the parking lot of the Double D’s Café after they were called about a disturbance and a male being shot, where they found Kelosky lying.

Alongside Kelosky, a woman, whose name and condition are not available, was shot in the leg and taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.

David A. Williams Sr., 29, of West Madison Avenue, name also began to surface on social media as the alleged shooter, police said, and because of that, Williams came to the police station on his own. Williams admitted to fighting with Kelosky, but initially denied that he was the shooter, adding that he had no idea who the gunman might have been, according to the complaint.

The New Castle City Police Department’s Criminal Investigative Division is asking anyone with information regarding this homicide to contact them at (724) 656-3588 or anyone wishing to leave an anonymous tip may do so on the New Castle City Police Department Website.