Staff photo / Ed Runyan Joesie K. Mascarella, 28, left, pleaded guilty to felonious assault Thursday for a March 1 incident in Youngstown in which Mascarella hit Al Jonae M. Phillips with Mascarella’s car in a dispute involving a man.

YOUNGSTOWN — Joesie K. Mascarella, 28, of Youngstown, was sentenced to six months in the Mahoning County jail and three years of probation Thursday after pleading guilty to felonious assault for assaulting another woman with her car in a dispute with the other woman over a man.

Mascarella’s conviction is a second-degree felony. She had no prior criminal record.

The episode actually involved two incidents the same day — the first one happening near Maywood Drive in Youngstown that resulted in Mascarella being charged with felonious assault, and the second one happening on Indianola Road in Boardman that resulted in the other woman, Al Jonae M. Phillips, 27, of Lowellville, being charged with felonious assault.

In the Youngstown incident, Phillips told police that Mascarella was following Phillips in their cars that evening in an ongoing dispute over a male. Phillips said she tried to “lose Mascarella” on a side street off of Southern Boulevard. But when she could not accomplish this, she exited her car and was in the street when Mascarella turned her car around and ran into her with Mascarella’s car. This apparently happened on Indianola Road in Boardman.

Phillips said she jumped onto the hood of Mascarella’s car and was struck by the vehicle, “bouncing off of it and landing in the street,” a Youngstown police report states.

Phillips then got in her car and chased down Mascarella, eventually ramming her from behind at Indianola Road in Boardman, the report states.

The Youngstown officer was made aware that there was a video on Facebook of the Youngstown incident involving Phillips being hit by Mascarella’s car, the report states.

The video showed a car that the officer was told was Mascarella’s car “making a U-turn around another vehicle, going up onto the sidewalk, then re-entering the street and driving straight at Phillips, striking her and sending her through the air before landing in the roadway,” the Youngstown report states.

The Youngstown officer said he was charging Mascarella with felonious assault based on the video.

PHILLIPS SENTENCE

Phillips was sentenced in July to two years of probation, the first 90 days in the Mahoning County jail, after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault, a fourth-degree felony, in the episode. Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum later reduced Phillips’ sentence to 37 days in jail.

According to a Boardman police report, the incident on Indianola Road in Boardman ended with the two cars in the front yard of a home. Both vehicles were damaged, with Phillips’ car having heavy front-end damage and Mascarella’s vehicle having “functional rear bumper damage.”

Mascarella told Boardman officers that Phillips showed up at Mascarella’s apartment complex on Maywood Drive south of Midlothian Boulevard at about 7 p.m. and was “trying to fight her.”

As Mascarella was trying to leave, Phillips “jumped on top of (Mascarella’s) car,” the report states. Mascarella continued to drive and stopped at the stop sign at Indianola Road. But Phillips, who was in her vehicle, hit the back of Mascarella’s car.

Phillips then grabbed a stick or piece of wood and struck the windshield of Mascarella’s vehicle, the report states. Mascarella said she was having pain in her lower back from the incident and requested medical attention, the report states. Mascarella also was taken to the hospital.

A Boardman fire truck and ambulance personnel treated Mascarella and Phillips for their injuries, but neither woman had visible injuries, the report states.

Mascarella told Boardman police that Phillips made no attempt to stop her car from hitting her and was trying to hurt her.

At the hospital, Phillips was cited for driving under suspension and later taken to the Mahoning County jail on the felonious assault.

During Mascarella’s plea and sentencing hearing Thursday, Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Anissa Modarelli said the defense and prosecution were jointly recommending six months in jail and probation.