Revoke bail for suspect, judge orders

A lawyer argued that penalizing the parents who paid the bail was pointless.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge Maureen A. Sweeney has ordered bail to be revoked for a man who escaped house arrest.
Judge Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday ordered the bail revocation for Christopher Aczel, 33, of Beaver Township.
His parents paid the $25,000 needed for him to be released to house arrest on a $250,000 bond Judge Sweeney set last month. Aczel, however, later cut his electronic monitor, left the house where he was staying and remains at large.
Prosecutors filed a motion last week saying the escape violates terms of the bond. Aczel's defense lawyer, Ted Macejko Jr., argued in a motion Tuesday that revoking the bail would be a hardship to Aczel's parents, who paid the $25,000 cash and had nothing to do with his escape. Penalizing the parents would be pointless, Macejko argued. The lawyer's motion also suggested Aczel might surrender within a day or two.
Aczel is to be held without bail when he's found or surrenders.
Aczel initially was held on $1 million bond. Macejko argued then that Aczel wasn't a flight risk and should have had a more reasonable bond set, resulting in the lower bond and house arrest.
Aczel faces 19 charges related to a two-county police chase in July and also faces unrelated drug charges.