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WARREN -- A Youngstown man who was shot after kicking in the door to a Niles apartment was given five-years probation.
Rodney D. Cole Jr., 27, of Parkview Drive, had pleaded April 20 to a bill of information, bypassing a grand jury, to charges of trespass in a habitation and obstructing justice. Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew D. Logan told Cole on Tuesday he was close to sending him to prison.
"This was a nasty case since it was found that you were carrying a gun into that place, but I'm gonna give you a break," the judge told Cole.
Cole, who was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the torso, had kicked in the door at 181 Royal Mall Drive early in the morning of Feb. 23, 2021.
According to the police report, he was shot by the woman there after he produced a firearm. She pulled her own gun -- which the report stated was a Springfield Armory 9mm handgun -- and shot him.
The 24-year-old woman, who was not charged in the incident, appeared in court and told Logan that Cole was a good father and that the restraining order against him should be lifted.
Cole had compounded the problem when he went to the hospital, and told medical personnel he was shot in a bar. Niles Municipal Court issued a warrant for Cole's arrest and originally charged him with aggravated burglary, according to records.
His attorney Ryan Ingram pleaded to the judge for probation, saying Cole had a "limited criminal record." Cole, before sentencing, apologized to the woman who shot him.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com