A man who was arrested in Worthington, after an incident awhile back involving two different stores, was recently accused of spitting in the faces of two jail officers.

Josiah Clayton Samson, 31, was arrested late Monday, May 13, by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Alan Jackson. Samson was booked in at 10:56 p.m. and with a home address of Fort Laramie, Wyoming, he was held on a surety only bond set at $1,000.

At some point earlier in the day, Deputy Jackson had conducted a welfare check on Samson and gave him a courtesy transport to Vest’s Quik Mart gas station and convenience store in Worthington. Then later, Deputy Jackson was dispatched to Worthington after a theft was reported at the Dollar General Store in Worthington, near Vest’s. When Jackson was given a description of a suspect, it matched the description of the man he transported.

At the Dollar General store, employees said they believed the man took hair clippers and ran out of the store without paying for them. They also thought he took a small circular mirror. They said he ran across the parking areas toward Vest’s. They were going to retrieve video surveillance footage for the deputy while he went to look for the suspect.

Samson was still outside at the convenience store and was identified as Samson. He allegedly said he’d been to the Dollar General and ate a sandwich over there, but he didn’t take anything and to check his pockets. When Samson emptied his pockets, he did not have any hair clippers.

Samson was wearing a toboggan at the time and when the deputy asked him to remove it, he noticed Samson’s hair was buzzed short. Deputy Jackson had just seen him earlier in the day, with longer hair.

When Deputy Jackson went inside Vest’s, an employee said Samson had come in and bought batteries before going into the store’s bathroom. The employee said after some time went by, she knocked on the door to the bathroom to tell him to come out because she was closing. She said he came out with freshly buzzed hair. From the bathroom, the plastic bag out of the trash can contained hair clippers with the package, women’s foundation and cut hair.

Samson was arrested and transported to the Greene County Jail. He did not post bond.

In court for his initial hearing on May 16, he was charged with theft, a Class A misdemeanor.

A week later, he entered into a negotiated plea agreement and the court set the date of May 28 for his change of plea and sentencing hearing.

The hearing was vacated because on May 28, there was an incident in the Greene County Jail.

The incident, actually two incidents, was investigated by GCSD Det. James O’Malley.

Very early in the day, two jail officers were working with Samson to get him to comply with jail policy regarding the covering and blocking of cell windows.

O’Malley reported that one officer had asked Samson several times to remove a towel he had placed over his cell window. Samson allegedly refused to comply so the officer entered the cell and removed the towel. As the officer was closing the door, Samson allegedly grabbed the door in an attempt to keep it from closing. When the officer told him to release the door, Samson allegedly spit directly into the face of the officer.

Later on, when the other officer attempted to place a “spit mask” on Samson, Samson allegedly spit saliva into the eye of the officer.

Another criminal case was then filed against Samson and when he appeared in Greene Superior Court for his second initial hearing, he was formally charged with two counts of battery by bodily waste on a public safety officer, both as Level 6 felonies.

In this case, Samson’s bond was set at $25,000 cash in full with no ten percent cash allowed.

Another change of plea and sentencing hearing in the first case has not been scheduled. Instead, both of Samson’s cases will be back in court later this month for pre-trial conferences.