By ED RUNYAN

Staff writer

YOUNGSTOWN — Kenneth Newton, 27, whose address is the Mahoning County jail, was indicted Thursday on two counts of felonious assault in a May 26 fight at the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

If convicted, Newton could get about 16 years in prison.

Police were called to the rear of the mission for a fight between two males. A man there said he took one of the males to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. The officer then saw the other male involved standing with a Mahoning County Sheriff’s deputy working secondary employment. The deputy handed the officer a small bag containing a bloody multitool (hammer on one side and hatchet on the other side), according to a Youngstown police report.

The unidentified male who was involved in the fight said he was talking to husband-and-wife acquaintances when Newton tried to join the conversation, “words were exchanged,” and Newton called the unnamed man a derogatory name for a black person and spit on him, the report states.

The unidentified man said he approached Newton, who ripped his own shirt off, then produced the tool and said “I’m going to kill you,” the report states.

The unnamed man told the Youngstown police officer he “eventually began to walk away” and was “heading home to change his shirt.”

He also told the Youngstown police officer he “turned around, and Newton was holding a baseball-sized rock that Newton threw at him, narrowly missing.”

At that point, the unnamed man said he was in fear for his safety, and he picked up a baseball-sized rock and threw it at Newton,” the report states.

At the same time, the unidentified man fell, colliding with Newton, and Newton struck the man in the head with the “hatchet-end of the multitool,” the unnamed man told the officer. Newton then tried two more times to hit the unnamed man with the multitool, but the unnamed man “landed two punches to Newton, knocking him to the ground, at which time [the unnamed man] was able to pick up the multitool,” the report states.

An officer observed the unnamed man to have a 2-inch laceration to the top of his head with “a lot of blood on his clothing,” the report states.

The officer viewed video from the Rescue Mission showing a verbal argument between the men. It showed the unnamed man approaching Newton, but the video does not show who struck the other first. The unnamed male is seen walking through the parking lot and Newton following on the other side of the parking lot, then throwing a baseball-sized rock and trying to hit the unnamed male with it, but he missed.

Then the unnamed man picked up a rock and tried to throw it at Newton, but it fell at Newton’s feet, the report states. Then Newton struck the unnamed male in the top of the head with the multitool once and then moved off camera.

Officers questioned Newton in the waiting room of the hospital, and Newton had blood on his face and right ear. When he was asked about an altercation, Newton said he had nothing to say. The officer arrested Newton on a charge of felonious assault.

While Newton was trying to file a complaint with a Mercy Health police officer against the Youngstown Police Department, a Mercy Health police officer’s body camera picked up Newton admitting to hitting the other male in the head but said it was self-defense. When Newton was finished with his medical care, he was taken to the county jail.

Youngstown police determined that Newton is wanted in Franklin County for failure to register as a sex offender. That agency was notified that Newton is in custody.

Others indicted Thursday are:

* Bonana Cruz, 47, last known address Market Street, Boardman, fentanyl related compound possession with a specification of forfeiture of money in a drug case.

* Zarnna J. Wilson, 58, last known address Market Street, Boardman, fentanyl related compound possession with a specification of forfeiture of money in a drug case, cocaine possession with a specification of forfeiture of money in a drug case, escape and aggravated drug possession.

* Nancy J. Dorbish, 49, Stattz Drive, Austintown, cocaine possession.

* Ryan J. Coyier, 30, East Wilson Avenue, Struthers, cocaine possession.

* Kathryn A. Allen, 37, Mahoning County jail, receiving stolen property.

* William P. Jones, 28, Mahoning County jail, grand theft of a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property and obstructing official business.

* Alex Burson, 36, Diamond, identity fraud.

Melissa Steele, 30, Shields Road, Boardman, felony theft of drugs.

* Justin A. Davis, 34, Colonial Drive, Liberty Township, failure to comply with the order of a police officer, obstructing official business and resisting arrest.

* Heidi A. Flynn, 44, Hillcrest Drive, Lake Milton, aggravated drug possession and heroin possession.

* Barbara Decarlo, 58, Westminster Avenue, Austintown, aggravated drug possession.

* Anna E. Stone, 33, Columbiana-Lisbon Road, Columbiana, two counts of felony theft.