BOARDMAN Officer injured in arrest still awaits a resolution

The police chief contends the case was mishandled.
By PATRICIA MEADE
and JOHN W. GOODWIN Jr.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
BOARDMAN -- There's controlled anger in Boardman Patrolman Eric G. Karelin's voice as he talks about the injury that threatens his career.
"If you fight with the police, you should go to jail," Karelin said. "It sends a dangerous message if there's no punishment."
Sgt. John Allsopp, a committeeman with Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 43, said it's been nearly a year since Karelin's leg was broken. No charges are pending against the man Boardman police contend resisted arrest and caused -- even if inadvertently -- the injury.
Allsopp, the FOP and Police Chief Jeff Patterson blame the Mahoning County prosecutor's office.
What happened
On Feb. 25, 2003, the bone above Karelin's left ankle was crushed when he assisted in the arrest of David T. Riley, who had been stopped on traffic violations. Although pursued by township police on the south side of Midlothian Boulevard, which is in Boardman, Riley pulled into a parking lot on the north side of the street, which is in Youngstown.
Karelin said his leg bone broke when Riley fell on him. The 35-year-old officer doesn't think that Riley intended to cause the injury but that he did intend to fight with police.
"If [Riley] hadn't chosen to fight that night, I'd be fine," Karelin said.
Karelin wears a leg brace and participates in physical therapy three times a week. A specialist will determine if he requires more surgery. He's been told there's a chance he cannot go back to the work he loves.
Initial charges
Charges against Riley, 37, of Glenwood Avenue were initially filed in Mahoning County Court, Boardman. The charges included felonious assault on a police officer (three counts), obstructing official business, resisting arrest, having no valid driver's license, and other traffic violations.
The traffic charges were resolved in Boardman, but at the request of John Ausnehmer, an assistant county prosecutor, the criminal charges were dismissed there and transferred to Youngstown Municipal Court in March 2003.
After a preliminary hearing in Youngstown in April 2003, the felonious assault charges were dismissed. Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly found no probable cause to bind them over to a Mahoning County grand jury.
In July 2003, at the request of an assistant city prosecutor, the misdemeanor counts of obstructing official business and resisting arrest were dismissed in municipal court. The idea was to have them refiled in Boardman.
Keeping charges together
"After the preliminary hearing, we learned that Boardman had kept the traffic charges. We dismissed [the misdemeanors] because it made no sense to split the case," City Prosecutor Dionne M. Almasy said Tuesday. "We have cross-jurisdictional issues all the time, and one side or the other takes the case."
She said if Judge Joseph Houser in Boardman had jurisdiction over the traffic charges, he has jurisdiction over the criminal charges because they all relate to the same event.
Patterson contended the case was mishandled from the get-go because all the charges should have stayed in Boardman. He said he now has an officer with an uncertain career and no charges pending against Riley.
Last November, with the case at a standstill, Patterson sent a letter to County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains asking the prosecutor to directly present to a grand jury a felony charge against Riley of recklessly causing physical harm to a peace officer, along with related lesser charges.
The chief said that he has yet to receive a response from Gains.
Gains did respond in December to township trustees who wrote a letter asking for an update on Patterson's request for prosecution. Gains, in a return letter, said he ordered a copy of the municipal court preliminary hearing transcript.
Cited need for review
The prosecutor said in his letter that, because Judge Kobly found no probable cause for any felony charges, it is essential to review the transcript of officers' testimony "to avoid a potential civil-rights action against the officer or officers involved and the township."
Gains said Tuesday he thinks all the charges -- traffic and criminal -- could have remained in Boardman, and he needs to determine why they didn't. The prosecutor said he also wants to discuss with Almasy why the resisting and obstruction charges were dismissed in Youngstown.
Gains said that based on Judge Kobly's ruling, there's no felony charge that can be presented to a grand jury, as Patterson suggested.
"I am at a complete loss to understand how a case where a police officer is seriously injured as the result of a criminal assault can be allowed to fall through the cracks in the system of Mahoning County," Patterson said.
On Jan. 9, Allsopp contacted Nicholas E. Modarelli, an assistant prosecutor under Gains, on behalf of the FOP. Allsopp said he was informed by Modarelli that the case is being pursued with caution. "We're really upset by this," Allsopp said. "The community should be, too."
Karelin said his dream came true when he was hired by the Boardman Police Department nearly four years ago. He said the injury has changed his life.
Karelin said his wife has been a saint throughout his ordeal, which affects everything they do that requires walking. He said his support system includes "great friends, awesome co-workers and my church."
The officer said all he wants to do is go back to work full time. He spent six months on light duty, then had to resume injured-on-duty status in late December. He's now experiencing pains in his right knee because he's favoring it to take weight off the injured left leg.
meade@vindy.comjgoodwin@vindy.com