YOUNGSTOWN Curses and wild chase lead to man's arrest

YOUNGSTOWN -- City police have arrested an East Side man who they say confronted officers writing parking tickets and then led them on a foot chase before saying that he was beaten by them.
Michael T. Cossack Jr., 46, of Jacobs Road, was arrested around 6 p.m. Wednesday, police reports show. He faces charges of assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing official business and persistent disorderly conduct.
Cossack, however, said city officers were the assailants, hitting him in the knee with nightsticks.
Police said the ordeal began when Cossack left the Madison Avenue building where he works and began swearing at the two officers as they ticketed cars. It appears from reports that the building is used for automobile repairs.
When they tried to stop him, he ran to his office, kneeling next to a telephone, and took a swing at one of the officers, police said. The officer used pepper spray, which sent Cossack running into a hallway, where he threw his elbow back toward the other officer.
He then ran into a work area where autos were parked, knocking items off the vehicles into the officers' path, before hiding in a dark area. More officers arrived, and they found Cossack lying in his office, saying he had been beaten by the first two officers and would not leave, reports show. He called for an ambulance, reporting an assault.
He refused to exit the office to see paramedics when they arrived. Police said a medic who went into the building said there was no damage to Cossack's knee.
He was arrested as he grabbed an officer's thumb, refusing to let go until an officer used his knee to hit Cossack twice in his right side. He was treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center and released to the Mahoning County jail. Besides the new charges, Cossack faces a count of failing to appear in Youngstown Municipal Court in August on an aggravated menacing charge.