YOUNGSTOWN — Tomiko Harvey, 50, of Youngstown, who was charged with felony assault in an early Sunday incident on the North Side, has a preliminary hearing Monday in Youngstown Municipal Court.

Harvey is accused of assaulting a lieutenant for the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office after the officer approached Harvey following the crash. Harvey was arraigned Monday. If he is convicted of the assault, he could get more than a year in prison.

A Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office report explains that a sheriff’s lieutenant was driving north on Fifth Avenue early Sunday on her way to conduct nightly security rounds at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center and two other North Side locations when the lieutenant saw a motor vehicle crash on Fifth Avenue.

The report states that the deputy was at the intersection of Fifth and Fairgreen avenues on the North Side when she saw a crash that appeared to have just occurred.

The deputy advised dispatch of the accident and approached the closest vehicle to check everyone’s well-being. One of the people said a man in the back seat of one of the cars was disoriented. He was later identified as Harvey.

The report states that the deputy spoke with the driver of that car, and Harvey tried to get out of the car. The deputy saw that Harvey had a large bump on his temple that led the deputy to believe Harvey had been involved in the accident, the report states.

The deputy identified herself and asked Harvey to sit back down. Harvey complied, the report states.

The driver of the car said “they did not know Harvey and that they just had him sitting in the car because he did not feel well. At this time, Harvey again got out of the vehicle and attempted to push past me,” the report states.

“I advised him that he needed to remain where he was until YPD arrived and talked to him. He then physically tried to move me out of the way, at which point I grabbed ahold of the vest he was wearing to stop him,” the deputy’s report states.

Harvey then “grabbed ahold of both of my wrists to gain control of me and allow himself to get away.” A Youngstown police officer then pulled up to the scene, the report states.

“Harvey was able to get out of his vest and throw me to the ground,” the deputy’s report states. “Harvey then took off running from the scene.”

YPD

The Youngstown police report stated that officers responded at 12:17 a.m. Sunday to Fifth and Fairgreen avenues for a motor vehicle accident with entrapment.

Officers saw a gold Honda Accord with heavy front-end damage. An officer positioned his cruiser to provide traffic control and saw a Mahoning County Sheriff’s deputy, later identified as a lieutenant, in uniform speaking to Harvey.

The officer had started to walk over to Harvey and the deputy and saw that the deputy was fighting with Harvey. Then Harvey pushed the lieutenant to the ground. Harvey then started to run away. The Youngstown officer deployed his stun gun twice before subduing Harvey and took Harvey into custody.

Harvey was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for evaluation.

Harvey was arraigned Monday in Youngstown Municipal Court on a fourth-degree felony assault and misdemeanor obstructing official business. He was released from the jail Monday, according to jail records.

A Youngstown police crash report states that the 12:17 a.m. crash involved a gold Toyota Tacoma and a gold Honda Accord. Harvey was driving the Tacoma and was traveling west on Fairgreen. The Accord was traveling north on Fifth Avenue when Harvey ran the stop sign at Fifth and Fairgreen, hitting the front of the Accord, causing front-end damage to the Accord and heavy damage to the driver’s side door of the Tacoma, the crash report states.

Harvey was charged with failure to yield, the crash report states. No drug or alcohol testing was done on either driver, nor was there any alcohol or drug use suspected, the report states. The driver of the other car did not appear to have any injuries, the report states.