Saturday, March 9, 2002
It took several police officers to finally control the victim, who weighed about 140 pounds.
CAMPBELL -- Mark L. Cook of Youngstown was arraigned on numerous charges related to a fight Wednesday in which police said he grabbed an officer's gun and turned it on law enforcement personnel.
Cook, 22, is charged with one count of aggravated robbery, five counts of felonious assault, and one count of resisting arrest. He was arraigned Friday before Judge John P. Almasy in Campbell Municipal Court. His bond was set at $285,000.
Police said Cook robbed a woman of about $300 from a Check 'N' Go Mini Mart on Wilson Avenue in Youngstown and became involved in a physical struggle with officers from Mahoning County, Coitsville and Campbell after he had been spotted around 3:20 p.m. in Campbell.
Description: Cook collided with Officer Laura Phillips, as she pursued him on foot, and Phillips wrestled him to the ground. Then, police said, Cook took Phillips' weapon from the officer's holster and said, "I'm going to kill you."
At one point, police said, Phillips saw the barrel of the gun pointed at her with the suspect's finger on the trigger.
Phillips pushed Cook onto his chest to pin the gun beneath him while officers arrived to pry the weapon from him. Lt. Alan Morris, from Coitsville, used pepper spray on Cook, who weighs about 140 pounds, while another officer took the gun.
The scene was finally cleared around 4:30 p.m. Officers were treated for bite wounds and aftereffects of the pepper spray. Willie Seay, a Mahoning County deputy sheriff, injured his finger, which he jammed behind the gun's trigger to keep it from firing.
Cook is in Mahoning County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.