BOARDMAN Police: Man assaulted trustee and her husband

Both men pleaded innocent in Struthers court.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- A man charged with assaulting a Poland Township trustee will face an additional assault charge in Boardman.
Rob Baldwin, 28, of Green Garden, has been charged by Boardman police with misdemeanor assault and criminal damaging. He will appear in Boardman area court Thursday evening.
Police say Baldwin assaulted Poland school board member Frank DiVito at a township bar Friday evening.
Baldwin faces charges of felonious assault, felony aggravated burglary and misdemeanor criminal damaging in Poland Township. His father Robin Baldwin, 53, of Hill Drive, Poland, is charged with felony burglary in Poland. Both men appeared in Struthers court today on the Poland charges.
According to Struthers court personnel, both men pleaded innocent to all charges. Preliminary hearings for both are scheduled for 9:45 a.m. April 2 in Struthers court.
Police report
According to Boardman police, Frank DiVito and his wife, Annette, were leaving the English Pub bar Friday when Rob Baldwin came out, grabbed his crotch and made derogatory remarks to Mrs. DiVito.
Police said Frank DiVito confronted Baldwin, who tried to hit him with a beer bottle. Police said Frank DiVito punched Baldwin then tried to leave with his wife. Rob and Robin Baldwin both started hitting the van driven by Frank DiVito, police said.
The fight outside the bar led to the Boardman charges.
Police said Rob Baldwin told officers at the English Pub and again at St. Elizabeth Health Center's Boardman facility, where he was treated and released Friday, that he would handle the situation with Frank DiVito himself.
According to Poland Township police, Mrs. DiVito, a township trustee, was in her Candywoods Drive, Poland, home with her three children about 5:45 p.m. Sunday when Rob and Robin Baldwin "unlawfully entered her home."
Police said the men were looking for Frank DiVito, who was not home.
An argument started, and one of the men grabbed the trustee's arm and pinned her against a wall while repeatedly striking her right hand with a blunt object, police said.
Mrs. DiVito broke free with the help of her children and the men left through a rear door to the garage, according to police. The men also broke a car window and security light before leaving the property, police said, leading to the Poland charges.
jgoodwin@vindy.com