A Sitka grand jury has indicted two Sitkans on felony charges, after they allegedly made verbal and physical assaults during child custody proceedings.
54-year-old Cheryl Neyman-Felix was indicted on two counts of Assault in the Fourth Degree and two counts of Interference with Official Proceedings for allegedly making a verbal threat against a representative of the Office of Children’s Services during a custody hearing for her grandchild.
According to the indictment, Neyman-Felix was attending a confidential child-in-need case on May 7. Following the judge’s ruling in the case, Neyman-Felix allegedly rose and began yelling and cursing. The indictment states that Neyman-Felix was warned to maintain proper courtroom decorum, or police would be summoned. She chose instead to leave, and witnesses allege that she threatened physical harm to the OCS investigator on her way out the door.
The indictment further alleges that Neyman-Felix approached another individual who was waiting outside the courtroom with an attorney and also threatened her with physical harm. The individual was in court on another matter, but was a witness in the child custody hearing.
Following interviews with court officers and witnesses, police arrested Neyman-Felix at her home. According to police records, she was uncooperative as she was taken into custody, and she was subsequently charged with resisting arrest.
Neyman-Felix remains in custody in the Sitka jail pending further proceedings.
In connection with the Neyman-Felix case, the Sitka grand jury also indicted 32-year-old Billy Haynes one count of Interference with Official Proceedings, one count of Assault in the Third Degree, one count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree.
According to court records, one of the witnesses in the aforementioned child-in-need case was walking with a friend outbound on Halibut Point Road near Pioneer Park on May 8 when Haynes, who was driving a vehicle inbound, allegedly swerved across the white fog line in a threatening manner. He allegedly returned in a different vehicle and passed them several times on both sides of the road.
The indictment states that on the previous day Haynes had also approached the witness in his vehicle, this time on Marine Street, exchanged words with her, then pointed his fingers in the shape of a gun as he drove away.
When officers later stopped Haynes, the indictment alleges that a clear plastic baggie fell from the car as he exited. The substance in the bag later tested positive for methamphetamine.
Haynes was taken into custody at the Sitka jail, where he remains pending further court proceedings.