Dad arraigned in bat-beating case

Yes, Dad should have let the bunch of trouble makers kick the crap out of his son. Remember these little creeps came to the 'criminal's' house to attack his son. Now we know the son had no right whatsoever to defend himself. What would you, as a parent, have done? Yes, the cops should have been called but do any of us act rationally when our kid is threatened by a bunch of other kids? Ten to one is not very good odds. I am not saying Dad was right but I cannot find fault with his providing his son with a means to defend himself. Shame on any legal system tha expects a Dad to stand by and let ten kids beat up his child!! Shame on a society that thinks this is fair. The kid that got beat deserved something, maybe not a baseball bat but he is NOT innocent in this situation nor are the other little creeps innocent. They came looking for trouble and they got it!!! And they sure are not going to be telling the whole truth that might support what this father did. I hope their parents feel some shame that their kids were part of this mess!!!!

I agree with you Stormieangel, I am totally confused by this whole case! I feel bad that the child was hurt so badly when struck with the bat. But I also feel that the father had the right and responsibility as a parent to protect his son or in this case, equip his son with a bat for self defense. There were 11 kids that showed up and it was the father and his son alone being totally outnumbered.

Subculturalism is definatetly going mainstream and their rights can trump your rights . One thing that I am sure of is that Derek Etto pissed them off and that they were there to teach him a lesson . His being defensive with a ball bat was not part of the scheme of things .

You guys are missing the point, if he wanted to protect his son all he had to do was take him in the house, lock the door and call the police. Or better yet, why did he him out in the first place, to fight 10 kids?

Thank you Teresa B.

Immediately after this incident before all the information about Mr. Etto came out, people in this community were asking "Where were the parents?". Well I guess now we know why Derek Etto left his house and against very bad odds engaged in a fight with another youth. Thanks for being there for your kid, Charles Etto. "Father of the Year...NOT"

So, if I come to the front door and open it I then can't protect myself against attack ? Sounds logical .

Teresa B. and commyliberal,

This is why we are having a problem with bullying in this country. A gang of kids show up to beat on one kid and you want him to go inside the house, cower behind a locked door, and let his daddy fight for him. This would not end things, but merely add fuel to the fire. I don't see where providing a bat in this circumstance did anything but level out the playing field. And, this was atypical gang of bullies. After the first kid got whacked in the head, did they report that any other kid attempted to take on the batter? Message sent and apparently received. Hopefully, some people learned their lesson. This isn't a video game but real life where a baseball bat to the head brings real blood out!

Same thing happened in Canfield...did that father get in trouble? hmmmm

Come on, a gang of youths show up at a door to come after a kid whose father was just convicted of drug trafficking. And that's two years after his last conviction. And everyone's applauding how the father was just "defending" his son.

Well, how's this for "defending" him. Get a freaking job, stop selling drugs, take your kid to the library, introduce him to the ticket out of ghetto hell --- knowledge. Become an assistant coach for your son's sports team that you get him to sign up for. Get your son into positive activities with positive friends instead of the motley crew he was involved with.

Do anything that won't make your home a training ground for the next generation of criminals.

At issue here is not Charles Etto
but the right of the subculture to attack at his residence . They seem to have the upper hand since he and his son were charged for defending themselves .

yeah, the guy's a lowlife. but let's ease up on the renters. considering the number of people with mortgages they can't afford/support, renting is often a very reasonable/responsible choice.

Good thing it wasn't my kid, got a box full of shells that wouldn't mind being let loose! My home, my castle; my family, my pride; my gun, your trespassing thug head! Don't look for fights cause when you find one it might be your last. Hopefully lesson learned.

The fathers past criminal record is of no matter in this situation. He did not set out to commit a crime and there is no pattern of criminal behavior that connects to this situation. His son was in imminent danger and he acted with out time to consider options. Had he locked himself and his son in the home, these kids would have attacked his son at another time or place. Who knows, maybe his son would have ended up beat to death, stabbed, caught on fire or any other number or tragic endings that we see on the news. Had these boys not gone out looking for a fight, there would not have been a fight, a bat, an injured boy, criminal charges...etc.

Reader:
Imminent danger means you have no other means to avoid the situation (that's the law, by the way). The young man and more importantly, his father had another avenue. If it were my son, I would have closed the door (or never opened it to begin with) and called the police. If they entered my home, then and only then, would I use a weapon.

Many who open the door to you will not allow you to attack and gain entrance . You may just have to die and or bleed outside .

Hee hee...see, kids are turning into self-righteous punks because their parents do not teach them any morals or ethics. We can argue over eminent domain and protecting yourself until we're out of daylight. The fact remains, and please, say that you wouldn't if you really wouldn't, we all would have handed our kid something to ding these miscreants coming to his house. Did he provoke them to come after him? Maybe, but once they are on your turf then take action. Punk kids are all alike, regardless of if it's Ytown or Boardman or Poland or Canfield. They roll without supervision and this is what you have happen. If senior was going to get into this much trouble for just handing over the bat then he should have invited them in and stomped a few on his own. At least it would have felt better...

"The fact remains, and please, say that you wouldn't if you really wouldn't, we all would have handed our kid something to ding these miscreants coming to his house. "

The answer to your question is NO , I would not have handed the bat to my child. For you see if 11 kids came up to my house looking to knock the crap out of my child, and one of them pulled a knife, I would have CRUSHED his skull myself.

Am I the only person who saw the videotape on the news??? The boy who was attacked had his back turned, talking to somone else when the Etto kid walked up behind him and hit him in the back of the head. The kids were talking, the only blows on the film were dealt by Etto. This pitiful excuse for a father would have shown his son a better example by taking his son in the house and calling the police. All you nuts who think that a baseball bat is the key to conflict resolution are sick. No wonder bullying is such a problem with our youth. As far as renters not being responsible, that's a bunch of hogwash. People who don't take pride in their homes won't do it whether they rent or own.

No one needed to f with the kid because his fup dad had already f'ed him up.

Violence begets violence. Society is reaping what it has sowed.

The next time someone pays Mr Etto's son a visit, I recommend they carry firearms.

Mr. Etto has learned his lesson . The next time a gang shows up at his doorstep he will take a beating along with his son to avoid getting arrested .

wineywoman,

Quit whining and get your facts straight. The video you saw was not the Austintown incident, but I believe it was in Warren.