STEUBENVILLE - A man charged with setting his girlfriend's house on fire in Dillonvale in August was among eight people indicted by the Jefferson County grand jury on Wednesday.

Demetrius T. Harper, 27, of Cleveland was indicted on one count of arson.

Harper and Amanda Adams were living at a house at 98 township Road 1099, Dillonvale, on Aug. 24.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department reported the couple had a fight and Adams' father told Harper to leave and not come back. Harper then allegedly made the statement that if he was forced to leave without his child, he would burn down the house.

Adams was not at the home at the time of the fire.

Witnesses reported seeing Harper and another man from Garfield Heights leaving the home on township Road 1099 with clothing. The witnesses reported seeing flames in the house about 10 minutes later, according to sheriff's department reports.

The sheriff's department notified area police agencies to be on the lookout for the car, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol spotted the car on U.S. Route 250 near Tappan Lake. Harper and the other man, who was not charged, were taken into custody.

Stedmund C. Creech, 20, of 700 Dock St. was indicted by the grand jury on two counts of possession of drugs and one count of felonious assault.

The felonious assault charge stems from shots being fired on Aug. 17 in 400 block of Union Avenue

City Police officers responding to the call were told by witnesses the suspects ran into a house at 415 Union Ave. Police surrounded the home and waited for detectives to arrive.

A juvenile and an adult male came out of the house and were taken into custody. Officers then went into the home and two adults males and another juvenile were arrested.

Police Chief William McCafferty said a search warrant was obtained. Officers checked the home and found four handguns. Two of the handguns were reported stolen, the chief said.

The two juveniles have been charged in juvenile court with felonious assault.

The grand jury also returned the following indictments:

David B. Ryan Jr., 40, of county Road 10, Adena, misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle under the influence. Ryan previously had been indicted on a felony count of OVI but county Prosecutor Thomas Straus said the file on a previous OVI case in another county had been destroyed so there wasn't enough OVI convictions to constitute a felony OVI.

William E. Withers, 26, of 2721 Sunset Blvd., single counts of possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Michael A. Wineman, 35, of 337 Olive Drive, Wintersville, single counts of aggravated vehicular assault and OVI. The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported Wineman was operating a car on Two Ridge Road, Wintersville, on Aug. 21 around 11:30 p.m. and it went left of center striking another vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle suffered serious injuries.

Joseph L. Miller, 33, of 1987 Tweed Ave., one count of burglary.

Ashlee R. Miller, 29, of 1987 Tweed Ave., one count of obstructing justice.

Kevin J. Meredith, 18, of 1322 N. River Ave., Toronto, single counts of theft of a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property.

(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.)