YOUNGSTOWN Suspect freed then returned to jail same day

The man was jailed after he tested positive for marijuana use.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Thomas D. Moses "skated" away from jail once Tuesday, but he couldn't do it twice.
Moses, 29, of Ayers Street, was in the Mahoning County Jail today awaiting trial on drug charges. He had been free on an $80,000 bond, which was revoked Tuesday by Judge Maureen A. Cronin of common pleas court.
Authorities say Moses is a member of the Ayers Street Playas, a gang suspected of controlling drug activity in an East Side neighborhood known among drug dealers as La La Land.
He was among 14 Playas indicted last year on various drug charges. Nearly all have either pleaded guilty or been convicted. Moses' case is set for trial in August.
In late May, Moses was arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Officials allege he kicked FBI agent Michael Cizmar in the face during a scuffle.
Prosecutors filed a motion asking Judge Cronin to revoke Moses' bond because of the subsequent arrest, which they said violated terms of his bond. At a hearing Tuesday, the judge denied the request.
Defense attorney Louis DeFabio said it was the right decision because Cizmar had no valid reason for stopping Moses then chasing and fighting with him.
"You skated narrowly on this one," the judge said to Moses.
Drug testing
But before Moses left court, Judge Cronin sternly cautioned him to avoid any further scrapes with the law before his trial and reminded him that he is subject to random drug testing as a condition of his bond.
She ordered him to go immediately to Community Corrections Association on Market Street for a urine test, which he did. According to court documents, the test showed the presence of marijuana in Moses' urine.
The judge then immediately revoked his bond and ordered him taken to jail.
Cizmar testified Tuesday that he saw Moses and another man walking near Shehy Street and Truesdale Avenue on May 31. The clothes Moses was wearing fit those of a man seen climbing out the window of a suspected drug house earlier that day on South Bruce Street.
When Cizmar asked Moses to stop for questioning, Moses refused, shouted an expletive at Cizmar and ran. Cizmar said he gave chase, eventually catching up to Moses, after which a struggle ensued.
Cizmar said Moses kicked him in the left cheek during the fracas.
bjackson@vindy.com