YOUNGSTOWN Paving business will go to court

The sheriff said it's his department's responsibility to enforce the injunction.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Lawyers for Cleveland Asphalt of Bessemer, Pa., were to ask today for a court injunction that would limit the number of protesters at a nonunion paving site on West Rayen Avenue, the project manager says.
Walter Romano, whose wife owns Cleveland Asphalt, said that even with the injunction, the paving would not resume until the end of the week or early next week, depending on how soon repairs can be made to damaged equipment.
The paving is a $750,000 Ohio Department of Transportation project along parts of U.S. Route 422, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Rayen Avenue and Oak Street from the Girard city line to Himrod Avenue.
Work halted Thursday on West Rayen after trucks and equipment left at the site overnight were vandalized. The damage included broken windshields, salt or sugar put into fuel tanks, slashed tires and cut electrical wires.
Safety guarantee
Romano had the equipment moved back to Pennsylvania and vowed not to return until his crew's safety was guaranteed. A meeting with ODOT representatives took place Friday.
"It turned horrible. We just want to get the job done," Romano said Monday. "ODOT said we're supposed to come back under police protection. I don't know exactly how it will come about. We're not trying to back away from the job."
Romano said lawyers for the paving company would ask a judge today to limit the number of protesters to three.
Time running out
Jennifer Richmond, an ODOT spokesman in Ravenna, said today that it is crucial that the paving be completed before the weather turns cold. She said the mayor gave his assurance that police would do everything in their power to ensure a safe work environment.
ODOT will pay to provide two off-duty city police officers to be on hand on during paving, but the contractor is responsible for protecting his own equipment after hours, Richmond said.
Once a Mahoning County common pleas judge issues an injunction, serving and enforcing it falls to the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Randall A. Wellington said Monday.
The job site was the scene of violence last week when a union representative videotaping the paving was beaten. Afterward, 50 to 100 workers from a variety of unions showed up to protest the attack.
A union spokesman has denied involvement in the vandalism.
Sons charged
Romano's sons, Michael Romano, 37, of Wampum, Pa., and Thomas, 33, of New Castle, Pa., are out on $4,500 bond, each charged with assault and criminal damaging. They are due in municipal court Oct. 31 for a pretrial hearing.
The brothers are accused of beating Blaine Daugherty III of Willoughby Hills, who was videotaping the paving. Daugherty is a member of Laborers International Union of North America, based in Akron.
Walter Romano has said Daugherty pulled a knife on his sons. Police said no independent witnesses saw Daugherty pull a knife.
meade@vindy.com