Man gets 5 years in shooting try
The victim had a concealed-carry
permit and injured his attacker by shooting him in the arm.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN — A Trumbull County assistant prosecutor says the sentencing of a 20-year-old Warren man to five years in prison for attempting to shoot a legally armed man last April shows that Ohio’s concealed-carry law works.
Sir Michael Cox Jr., 20, of 1615 Deerfield Ave. S.W., pleaded guilty Monday to felonious assault and a specification that he committed a crime with a firearm.
Assistant Prosecutor David Toepfer said Cox was shot in the arm and injured by flying glass when he pulled a gun on Martin Bonish of Youngstown Road Southeast on April 10, and Bonish fired his own gun.
Cox received his sentence in the courtroom of Judge Peter Kontos in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
What happened
Bonish, who owns a concealed-carry permit, arrived at his home about a mile east of downtown Warren in an area of older two-story homes and businesses at just after midnight April 10.
After pulling into his driveway, he was approached by three men.
Bonish told police that when Cox, who approached Bonish the most aggressively, came toward him, he pulled out his gun and told Cox, “Get out of here. Leave me alone,” Toepfer said.
Cox then pulled out his gun and fired it, hitting Bonish’s house but missing Bonish, who took cover behind another car in his driveway and started firing at Cox.
Cox got into Bonish’s car and started to
drive off with Bonish’s dog still in the car, Toepfer said.
In the exchange of gunfire, Cox was shot in the arm. Another bullet from Bonish hit a window in the car, sending glass flying into Cox’s face. Cox couldn’t control the car and crashed it across the street from Bonish’s house and took off on foot.
Cox was arrested a short time later at St. Joseph Health Center, where he was being treated for his injuries.
In all, police think Bonish fired his gun six times, Cox at least two, both of which hit Bonish’s house, Toepfer said.
No one was charged in the incident other than Cox.
To obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon in Ohio, a person must complete a firearms safety course if not already deemed competent to carry a firearm because of previous training as a police officer or member of the armed forces, according to the Ohio attorney general’s office.
runyan@vindy.com