Assault suspect's charge is dropped

Several charges were dropped because witnesses did not appear.
AUSTINTOWN -- A man who was accused of shooting at a woman and pistol-whipping her in the parking lot of a bar had a felonious assault charge against him dropped Thursday.
Carl T. Fisher, 25, of Youngstown appeared in Mahoning County Court here on a multitude of charges from what prosecutor Ken Cardinal called a "crime spree" that began in May and lasted through August.
Only one case, a charge of grand theft auto, was bound over to the Mahoning County grand jury.
Another assault case, in which he was accused of punching and kicking a 17-year-old ex-girlfriend Aug. 25 at a residence on Rosemont Avenue in Austintown, is being considered by Judge Diane Vittori, who presided at the hearing.
In the felonious assault case that was dropped, Fisher had been accused of shooting at the woman's foot and pistol-whipping her after an argument Aug. 26 in the parking lot of a bar.
Witnesses fail to appear
He was arrested Sept. 16 by the Mahoning County Violent Crimes Task Force at an East Warren Avenue address in Youngstown after nearly a monthlong search.
But none of the eyewitnesses to the alleged assault, including the victim, showed up in court, Cardinal said. He said the woman moved out of the area and would not come back to face Fisher in court. So the charge was dismissed.
Other charges against Fisher that were dismissed because witnesses did not come to court included assault, car theft, fleeing and eluding, drug charges, criminal damaging and possession of criminal tools, Cardinal said.
The assault case and the grand theft auto case that the court did not dismiss were able to go forward because witnesses came to court for those, he said.
Car theft
In the auto theft case, Fisher and a juvenile are accused of stealing a car from a residence on Schenley Avenue in Boardman July 22. They were also accused of stealing a car in Austintown that same night and driving it to Boardman. That case is pending, Cardinal said.
Cardinal said Fisher is in the Mahoning County Jail, unable to make bond.