Niles man gets 3 1/2 years on gun charge

WARREN – A 24-year-old Niles man who took an assault rifle into a crowded Niles bar has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Michael Dickson, of John Street, was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to six months for the illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor permit premises and three years on a gun specification. The sentences will be served consecutively.

Niles police reported that Dickson walked into Cleary’s, 1216 N. Main St., about 2 a.m. Feb. 6 with an AK-47. He pointed it in the air and chambered a bullet.

Police said he aimed the rifle at several patrons. One of them tackled Dickson and disarmed him. Dickson’s blood-alcohol content was 0.283 percent. The legal limit is 0.08.