Escapee's carjacking victim files lawsuit

YOUNGSTOWN — An Austintown man who said he was carjacked by an escaped federal prisoner in a St. Elizabeth Health Center parking lot, and held at gunpoint for three hours as the man drove him to the Columbus area, sued the hospital and the prison.

Richard Orto Sr., 53, of Innwood Drive, filed the lawsuit this week against St. Elizabeth   and the Corrections Corporation of America’s Northeast Ohio Correctional Center on Hubbard Road. He alleges the April 2 carjacking, spawned by their neglect of proper security precautions, caused him “extreme mental agony and emotional distress.” The suit, which seeks damages in excess of $25,000 and demands a jury trial, was filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by Atty. John A. McNally III.

The prisoner, Billy Jack Fitzmorris, escaped from the hospital, where he was being treated, after using a homemade knife to overpower, disarm and handcuff a NOCC guard, police said. Fitzmorris took another guard and two nurses hostage for about 15 minutes, donned the overpowered guard’s uniform, fled the hospital and carjacked Orto with the guard’s .38-caliber revolver, authorities said. Orto managed to escape when Fitzmorris stopped at a Columbus area convenience store.

For complete story, see Thursday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.