Friday, May 27, 2005
A teenager was hit in the leg when bullets were fired into the house.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Mahoning County grand jury indicted two men who police said fired into occupied houses last week on the East Side, and also indicted a man who helped convicted cop killer Martin L. Koliser Jr. leave the city.
The cases of Leo Prieto, 26, of Lansdowne Boulevard, and Henry Scott III, 23, of Magnolia Avenue, were presented directly to the grand jury Thursday.
Both men had been scheduled for preliminary hearings Tuesday in Youngstown Municipal Court on charges of felonious assault and two counts of improperly discharging a firearm in a habitation.
The second-degree felonies carry maximum eight-year prison terms. The men also face additional time of up to five years for using firearms to commit the crimes.
Police said that earlier this month, the two men fired rounds from an assault rifle at 1341 and 1343 Berwick Ave. One round hit a 16-year-old girl in her leg at 1343 Berwick, reports show.
Police later found bullet holes in two other Berwick Avenue homes.
Vandalism
The grand jury indicted Forrest A. Rupp, 25, of Poland, on five counts of vandalism and three counts of disrupting public services. All are fifth-degree felonies that carry a maximum of one year in prison.
The indictment says Rupp caused damage to county sheriff's department equipment or property on April 19 and that he also damaged or tampered with property that disrupted public services.
In April 2003, Rupp made news as one of four men who helped Koliser leave town. Koliser was found guilty of ambushing city Patrolman Michael T. Hartzell in downtown Youngstown. Koliser received the death penalty, but he committed suicide May 7.
Rupp served about 90 days of a three-year prison sentence for obstructing justice in the Koliser case. After his release in November 2003, Rupp was placed on three years' probation.
He is also on probation until 2007 for an unrelated aggravated robbery conviction.