(LEX 18) — A Clark County woman says she feels "lost in the system" after repeatedly pushing authorities to get domestic violence orders against an ex-boyfriend and then have them enforced.
For more than a month, Ninya Mason has been in hiding, afraid of what may happen next."
"I can't work, I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't drive my car, I can't do anything," she tells LEX 18.
She says she has been living a nightmare. Someone vandalized her car with spray paint. Her tires have also been slashed four separate times.
"I feel like slashing of the tires is just the beginning," she said.
Mason says it all began on October 29th when she left work at Webasto in Lexington. She reported to Lexington police that she found her car covered in orange spray paint and her tires slashed beyond repair.
The same day, she tells LEX 18 she came home to Winchester and found her entire apartment doused in bleach.
In this report taken by the Clark County Sheriff's Office, a deputy documented damage to two couches and a loveseat, as well as damage to radios, TVs, VCRs, and other electronics. In the report's narrative, the deputy wrote that Mason told him someone she knew poured bleach on all her furniture, bedding, and clothing and punched holes in both of her large screen TVs.
"I have no clothes, no furniture, no TV's and everything," she said.
After filing police reports in Lexington and Winchester, Mason got this court issued domestic violence order ordering her ex-boyfriend to stay away... no contact period.
"Every time I hear a noise, I think it's him outside," Mason said. "I'm just fearful, scared I'm going to die."
On November 18th, Mason says she told the Clark County Sheriff's Office and the Clark County Attorney that her tires were vandalized again... this time outside her Winchester apartment.
In a report taken by another sheriff's deputy, Mason alleged her ex-boyfriend could have caused the damage.
Earlier that morning, she says a neighbor's camera caught a video of someone walking to her car and bending down near her tires.
Two nights later, at her apartment, Mason claims the neighbor's camera captured a person walking to her car again and hovering around the sides of it. She filed another police report alleging the same individual slashed all four tires on her silver 2017 Toyota Camry. No one has been charged in either incident.
"I don't understand why I can't get any help," Mason tells LEX 18. "I have to keep paying for tires."
Mason thought for sure the first video from her neighbor's camera would convince authorities. However, she says the Clark County Attorney told her the video wasn't clear enough to identify the person, so no charges were filed.
"I still have guidelines and protocol to handle," said Clark County Attorney William Elkins. "I couldn't say for sure I know the gender of the person portrayed in the video."
We also talked to Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue, who told us the cases are still open. He said he considers Mason's ex-boyfriend a "person of interest."
Early in the morning on November 25th, the day before Thanksgiving, Mason sent LEX 18's Leigh Searcy pictures of her car. She says her tires had been cut again at her job here in Lexington.
Mason said she was scared, didn't know what to do, and asked for help. She said her company's security system caught it on camera.
"All four of my tires are flat again," Mason says.
We called the Clark County Sheriff's Office to tell them Mason was afraid for her safety and questioned the domestic violence order against her ex-boyfriend.
A deputy looked into the matter... and so did we.
According to court records, the Clark County Attorney's office had already prepared this arrest warrant on her ex-boyfriend for violating the domestic violence order. It was generated on November 23rd but hadn't been served.
"On the 25th, I think you called Detective Aaron Matthews and asked why this warrant hadn't been served at some point in time. That led to a call to the Scott County sheriff," said Elkins.
On November 25th, Scott County deputies arrested Edward Davis at his job on a warrant for violating the domestic violence order.
According to the warrant, Davis violated the no-contact order when he allegedly sent a threatening text to the victim and was alleged to have damaged Mason's property. Elkins says the damage pertains to the tire slashing at her home, the first time.
The violation is a misdemeanor. Davis paid a $2,500 bond and was released from jail the same day.
On December 10th, Davis was arrested again on three warrants in Lexington—connected to the two alleged vandalism incidents at Mason's job. Police charged him with two counts of criminal mischief and one count of violating the domestic violence order.
According to the arrest warrants, the same suspect was seen on video surveillance near Mason's vehicle when it was vandalized on both occasions. In the tire slashing on November 25th, the officer wrote the video surveillance system showed the suspect pull into the parking lot a few minutes after Mason arrives. It goes on to say the suspect is seen getting out of his vehicle, walking to Mason's vehicle, and after being by her car for 15 to 30 seconds, he leaves the parking lot.
After his second arrest on December 10th, Davis bonded out of jail the next day after someone paid his $5,000 cash bond. After initially declining to speak with LEX 18's Leigh Searcy, Davis later told her he had nothing to do with the vandalism. He called her a scorned woman trying to set him up and vows to clear his name in court.
As for Ninya Mason, she says she'll continue living in hiding... wondering what could happen next.
"I'm lost in the system," she says. "I can't keep doing this; I can't live like this, why should I? Why should I have to live like this?"
