County opposes early release for assailant at city McDonald’s

By Peter H. Milliken

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

An assistant Mahoning County prosecutor opposes early release of a 21-year-old man who went to prison for assaulting and seriously injuring a 67-year-old man in a fast-food drive-through lane on the West Side.

Samuel Crayton is asking Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of common pleas court to release him from prison after serving 13 months of a four-year prison.

Crayton, of Mathews Road, pleaded guilty to felonious assault in the Oct. 9, 2010, attack at McDonald’s, 3034 Mahoning Ave., in which Crayton punched Thomas Dailey, a Canfield High School teacher, in the face.

Three McDonald’s employees, who came to Dailey’s assistance and detained Crayton until police arrived, received a commendation from city council.

Dailey initially suffered a broken nose and severed artery and lost 2 pints of blood.

He lost 4 pints of blood a week after the assault, underwent more than two hours of surgery to stop internal bleeding and missed two months of work.

Crayton’s lawyer, Holly M. Hanni, filed the motion on Jan. 27, asking Judge Krichbaum to release Crayton from prison and onto probation, saying he had no prior felony convictions, has attended self-improvement classes at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution and will have strong family support after his release.

In an objection filed Tuesday, Jennifer L. McLaughlin, an assistant county prosecutor, said Crayton should serve his entire prison term for the “unprovoked attack” that seriously injured an “innocent victim.”

Judge Krichbaum, who could have sent Crayton to prison for up to eight years, has set no hearing on the judicial release motion and has not ruled on it.