NILES Officials continue probe into fight
Neither the prosecutor nor the city law director would say if a special prosecutor will review the matter.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- City and county officials are hoping to finish investigating a bar fight involving two Trumbull County deputy sheriffs by the end of the week.
Atty. Bruce Bennett, city prosecutor, said he is reviewing information from the police department and is still interviewing witnesses.
Steven Tabor and Paul Benedict, both of Niles, told city police that they were assaulted by detectives Peter Pizzulo and Anthony Leshnack.
Pizzulo and Leshnack have said that Tabor and Benedict started the fight Nov. 10 in the parking lot of Gasoline Alley, 500 Vienna Ave.
Bennett said he would like to finish his investigation by the end of the week.
Capt. Tom Stewart, who is conducting the internal investigation for the sheriff's department, said his probe should also be done by the end of the week.
"We need to interview a couple more people before we finish," Stewart said. "I think we should be done in a few days."
What's next: Stewart said once he is done with the probe he will give the file to Sheriff Thomas Altiere.
"It will be up to the sheriff to decide if they should face any type of discipline," Stewart said.
Neither Bennett nor his boss, Terry Dull, Niles law director, would say if he will review the matter and decide if charges should be filed or if he will have a special prosecutor look at the investigation.
Altiere had said that the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation was going to investigate the matter, but a BCI spokesman said the agency is not looking into the matter.
Altiere could not be reached to comment.
Conflicting stories: Two reports filed with Niles police offer conflicting stories of what happened.
Leshnack told investigating officers that as he was leaving Gasoline Alley he was jumped by three or four people, knocked to the ground, kicked and punched.
In a separate report, police say Tabor, of Nash Street, told officers he was punched in the face by a man as he was walking to Gasoline Alley after he and a friend were involved in an altercation in the rear lot.
Police talked to the man, later identified as Pizzulo, who said Tabor and Tabor's friend started the fight.
Tabor told The Vindicator he did not tell police he was walking to the bar. He said he, Benedict and another friend were in the bar when they saw a female friend pass out. He said the woman was sitting next to Leshnack and when she and Leshnack left the bar, they followed to make sure she was OK.
He said Leshnack got upset and kept asking them who they were.
Tabor said he and his friends started to leave when Leshnack began punching their vehicle and running alongside it.
sinkovich@vindy.com