TRUMBULL COUNTY Man seeks to intervene in lawsuit

The man is seeking the statue's return and $200,000 in damages.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A Liberty Township man who says his cast iron horse was illegally taken from him is asking a judge to allow him to intervene in a civil suit filed by the two men who took it.
An attorney for John Coleman, of Overbrook Avenue, filed a motion in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court asking that Coleman be involved in a suit filed by Andrew and Aaron Kish against their father.
The suit by the two brothers against Michael Kish, filed in 2003, is still pending in the courtroom of Judge John Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
The Kish brothers believe their father owes them money. Coleman believes Andrew and Aaron Kish owe him a cast iron horse statue.
Coleman is also asking the judge to have the cast iron horse statue returned and for punitive damages in the amount of $200,000.
False claims
According to the motion, Coleman says his friend Michael Kish gave him the cast iron horse statue, which stands 20 feet tall, as a gift in August 2000. On March 16, according to the motion, Aaron and Andrew Kish came to his home with a fraudulent court order demanding the horse.
"They displayed an official-looking document, which they claimed as the order of Judge Stuard for their possession of the cast iron horse," the motion states.
It further notes that a check of the court docket reveals no orders of recovery or possession issued to the Kishes.
Andrew and Aaron Kish and their attorney, Charles Dunlap, could not be reached for comment.
Liberty Township Police Chief Anthony Slifka said Coleman told him he was keeping the horse for Michael Kish.
He said that when he was at the Coleman house on March 16, Aaron Kish showed him a court order stating that all the merchandise belonging to Michael Kish was to be stored in one location until the brothers' suit against their father is settled.
The men are suing their father for money they believe he owes them for work they did for his landscaping business, according to court records.
It is not known when the judge will rule on Coleman's request.
Atty. Gilbert Rucker, who represents Coleman, says the cast-iron horse is valued at $25,000. He noted that Michael Kish is serving a 10-year prison sentence for two counts of possession of drugs.
sinkovich@vindy.com