City man ruled competent to face trial
YOUNGSTOWN — A man accused of holding dozens of law enforcement officers at bay for three hours at a home on Aberdeen Avenue on the South Side last summer is competent to stand trial.
Attorney Lou DeFabio told Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday that he and defendant Brandon Turjonis will not challenge the findings contained in a report from the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio in Austintown that Turjonis is competent to stand trial.
Under Ohio law, a person cannot be tried in court if he or she is incapable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings against him or her, and assisting in his or her defense.
Turjonis is charged with a felony weapons offense and misdemeanor inducing panic and aggravated menacing for a June 19, 2020, standoff involving the Mahoning Valley Crisis Response Team and Youngstown Bomb Squad.
The incident began when a neighbor across the street from Turjonis’ home called 911 at 10:55 a.m. to say Turjonis was pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at the neighbor’s home and threatening him as part of a dayslong feud.
As an officer arrived, he spotted a man fitting the description of Turjonis near others on the street. Turjonis ran up his driveway and disappeared. The officer didn’t know whether he went into the house or past it.
Turjonis surrendered peacefully about 2 p.m. and was taken to the Mahoning County jail.
Police tried to search his home, but an apparent homemade explosive device was found just inside the door, the report states.
If convicted of the charges, Turjonis could get several years in prison.
erunyan@tribtoday.com