Youngstown man charged with assaulting police officers
AUSTINTOWN — A Youngstown man is accused of assaulting several police officers during a domestic dispute at his home.
Damon Williams, 36, of Brentwood Avenue, is charged with multiple felonies — all of which were bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury Tuesday from Mahoning County Austintown Court — as well as misdemeanor charges.
The felonies include assault on a peace officer, obstruction of police business and possession of drugs. Court records also show a burglary charge was dismissed. The misdemeanor charges are assault and resisting arrest.
An Austintown police report states officers responded to a domestic violence complaint at a home on Main Street. Police found children cleaning a mess in the kitchen while a man and woman screamed at each other. Police tried to get the man to come outside and speak with them, but he told police he needed to grab his belongings. He grabbed some items while the woman went to her bedroom, the report states. The man then followed her.
The report states he made a show of grabbing some personal items before cornering the woman between her bed and the wall. The officer got between them and directed the man outside, the report states.
The report states the officer tried several times to get the man to sit in a chair before the man stood up, shoved the officer — causing the officer to land on his back and lose his breath and also bruise his hip — before running through backyards and across Westminster Avenue.
Other officers arrived and chased the man, and the report states they caught him trying to scale a fence along Edgehill Avenue.
The report states multiple officers struggled to get the man on the ground and handcuffed, and used an electric stunner at least twice. Police searched him and found a bag in his pocket that appeared to contain drugs and was later confirmed to be cocaine, the report states.
As police were taking him to the cruiser, the man refused to identify himself and threw up in the street. He was taken to Mercy Health Austintown Emergency Room for treatment, according to the report.
The woman told police who the man was and that he is her ex-boyfriend. She said they do not live together. She told police she picked him up and that when they arrived at the house they started to argue, the report states. She told police the man began to pressure her for money and her car keys, and when she refused he grabbed scissors and said he was going to slash her tires.
She told police a scuffle ensued and she was cut by the scissors in the process, the report states. She then locked the man out of the house. She told police he then pushed an air conditioning unit from a window in a bedroom and climbed through, the report states. She told police he slapped her in the face and they fought through the house, the report states.
She said the fighting ended when she threw cold grease in his face and called 911. Teenage children were cleaning up the grease when police arrived, the report states.
The report states Williams also had active warrants out of Youngstown, Struthers and Boardman.
Williams made an initial appearance on the charges Oct. 23. He remains in the Mahoning County jail awaiting the grand jury’s decision.
Court records show that on Monday, two other charges against Williams also were bound over to the grand jury out of Canfield, where he faces felony counts of failure to comply and obstruction of police business for an April 16 incident. Misdemeanor charges of reckless operation and failure to maintain marked lanes were dismissed.