WARREN — A Hubbard man who is a bail bondsman received five years of probation Tuesday on a conviction for charges connected to a June 2021 break-in at a North Bloomfield home, where he thought a fugitive was staying.

Cyler J. Reed, 22, of Stewart Street, apologized to the victims and to the court for what he did, which he thought was legal.

Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald J. Rice told Reed, however, that bail bondsmen have no more authority than police officers who have to get warrants to enter private residences. Rice told the victims, who had asked for an 18-month prison sentence for Reed, that he would not send the defendant to prison for his actions. “We sentence people (to prison) whom we are afraid of and not because we are mad at them,” Rice said.

Reed on July 7 pleaded guilty to an amended indictment of criminal damaging, menacing and trespassing into a habitation where someone is likely to be present. The first two charges were misdemeanors while the trespassing was a fourth-degree felony.

Rice ordered Reed to pay the victims $3,700 in restitution for damages he caused breaking into their home on June 15, 2021.

Reports identified Reed as the man who told Charles Luck and his wife that he was a bail bondsman looking for someone he believed was at Luck’s home. Reports stated the man kicked the door in and pointed a stun weapon at the couple.

Luck told the judge that Reed deserved to serve the maximum 18 months in prison for the felony. Rice told the defendant he must write an apology letter to the victims.

Reed’s attorney, Scott Cochran, told the judge his client had suffered because of this case, jeopardizing both his bail bondsman license and his certificate to be an emergency medical technician.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com