Police to charge driver with assault

An off-duty officer chased the driver through yards.
AUSTINTOWN -- A township man faces several charges after police said he swung a fence post at an officer during a chase after a car accident Friday, a police report said.
Curtis Nickel, 37, of Westchester Drive, was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center after the accident. He remained there Tuesday in stable condition, the hospital said.
Charges of assault on a police officer and criminal damage were to be filed by the Austintown Police Department's detective division, the report said.
Friday's accident at 10:15 a.m broke a utility pole in half on Mahoning Avenue at the intersection with North Edgehill Avenue.
Austintown Lt. Mark Durkin was off duty and getting gas at the nearby Shell station when he heard the crash.
He went over to help, he said, and when he checked the car, he didn't find the driver.
Durkin said the driver was standing behind a garage near Chipper's, a sports bar. He went to him and asked if he needed an ambulance. When the man said no, Durkin tried to get him to go back to the accident scene, but the man fell, Durkin said.
What happened next
"I told the guy, 'Don't move,'" Durkin said, starting to call for an ambulance. But the man got up and started to walk north. "Then, he took off running," Durkin said.
Durkin said he chased the man between houses. As he jumped over a fence, the man ripped off a post and tried to hit Durkin with it, Durkin said.
But Durkin blocked the fence post with his arm, then drew his off-duty weapon, the report says.
The man took off running again, then he fell, Durkin said. When other Austintown officers arrived, the report said, they found Nickel on the ground in the front yard of a North Edgehill home with Durkin over him holding him down by his arms.
Nickel had a cut on his head and was in and out of consciousness, the report said. Durkin was not injured.