Sarah Hopkins

An Ohio woman who was reported missing and endangered earlier this week was charged with theft, Thursday, July 27, after she told police she stole a vehicle to escape men who assaulted her in Winfield Township.

Sarah A. Hopkins, 20, of Canal Fulton, Ohio, was charged with two counts each of felonies burglary, theft and criminal trespassing.

State police and numerous fire departments had spent about four hours searching for Hopkins early Monday, July 24, after her vehicle was found at the intersection of Ridgeview and Moorehead roads in Winfield Township.

Hopkins later arrived at the Byseville, Ohio, police station Monday evening with the stolen vehicle, police said.

Hopkins was originally reported missing at 1:40 a.m. Monday.

The search for her in Winfield Township began at 2:30 a.m., after police said her beige Toyota sedan was found, running but unoccupied, at the intersection of Ridgeview and Moorehead roads.

Police said a vehicle was reported stolen from a garage around 4:30 a.m. Monday in the 300 block of Moorehead Road, Winfield Township. The address was 1 mile away from where Hopkin’s vehicle was found.

The homeowner reported his blue 2018 Chevrolet Silverado was taken, along with a 9 mm firearm that was kept in the center console.

Police said Hopkins also broke into an unoccupied camper trailer. A set of keys, which were kept in the truck, were later found in the trailer.

Police said Hopkins arrived at the Byesville, Ohio, police department at 4:25 p.m. Monday.

Daulton Dolan, Byesville’s chief of police, said Hopkins was covered in cuts when she arrived.

“She claimed to be kidnapped and raped,” Dolan said. “She had a lot of marks on her. She was cut up pretty much from head to toe.”

Dolan said Hopkins told him she ended up in Butler County while traveling “the back way” from Ohio to Pittsburgh to “get away from her family.”

Hopkins told officers she was followed from Akron, Ohio, to the location where her car was left in Butler County.

Police said Hopkins claimed she was sexually assaulted by multiple men and dragged through the woods, before escaping with the stolen vehicle.

Documents showed Hopkins provided officers with the keys to the stolen vehicle and admitted taking it from Winfield Township.

According to a Monday evening interview with Hopkins’ mother, Pamela Trader Hopkins, she was notified by police that her daughter was at Southeastern Hospital in Cambridge.

In a Thursday phone call with the Eagle, Pamela Trader Hopkins did not offer further comment on the situation.

A preliminary hearing for Hopkins has not yet been scheduled.