3 face charges in Girard death

Kevin Elza's widow was disappointed in the misdemeanor charges.
By ED RUNYAN
and JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Tracy Elza is glad to see three men finally indicted in the beating death of her husband, Kevin Elza, but she still wants to know what happened in the parking lot before he died.
The three are charged in the death of Elza, 36, of Bristolville, who was found Nov. 6, 2005, in the Creekside Golf Dome parking lot on North State Street, Girard.
Roberto B. Dubelt, 19, of 144 Morris Ave., is charged with assault.
Brian J. Charles, 21, of 1087 Park Ave., and David A. Riehl Jr., 19, of 855 Dravis Ave., are charged with inciting to violence in the assault.
All of the charges are misdemeanors.
Arraignment set
Girard Police Chief Frank Bigowsky said all three were issued a summons and are expected to appear for arraignment today before Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas court.
Police said that when they were called to the Creekside parking lot at 2:30 a.m., they found Elza bloody and breathing shallowly. He was pronounced dead later at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.
Bigowsky said Girard police received an autopsy report from the Mahoning County Coroner's office showing that Elza died from blunt trauma to the head, with multiple skull, brain and soft tissue damage.
A week after Elza's death, Girard Detective John Norman said a number of people had been interviewed, but investigators had not gotten a clear picture of what happened and were seeking additional witnesses.
For several weeks after Elza's death, Tracy Elza and members of the Elza family pleaded with witnesses to come forward if they had seen what happened that night.
Bigowsky said no additional witnesses ever came forward, but that did not hamper the department's investigation. Officers spoke to those directly and indirectly involved, a polygraph test was given to one man who wasn't charged, and evidence collected from the scene was enough to make a case for the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, he said.
Tracy Elza said she is confused and disappointed by the misdemeanor charges. She is eager to ask officials why no felony charges have been brought against the men and exactly what happened that night.
"At this point in time I am just shocked at the charges, but I really don't know what exactly happened," she said.
Bigowsky could not say if stiffer charges may be brought in the future.
"Based on the evidence we collected and based on the polygraph evidence, these were the charges the prosecutor decided to go with," he said.
Frank DeMain Jr., a coroner's investigator in Mahoning County, said it appeared that Elza and a friend emerged from the golf dome and one of them went to the wrong car. The wrong car was similar to the one they were driving.
About the same time, a group of people came out of the dome, words were exchanged and Elza was "sucker-punched," collapsing to the pavement, DeMain said.