Man indicted in shooting over McCain sign

By Ed Runyan

The defendant faces up to eight years in prison if he is convicted of the felonious- assault charge.

WARREN — Kenneth Rowles, the Warren Township man accused of shooting a teen boy whose cousin knocked over Rowles’ Mc- Cain For President sign in late October, has been indicted on a felonious-assault charge.

Rowles, 50, of Dover Street, called township police to his house Oct. 25 to tell them about two young men who damaged his McCain sign, but he didn’t mention having fired his rifle.

He also asked the officer, Patrolman Daniel Peterson, if Peterson knew anything about a new Ohio law that allows a homeowner to protect his property, but the officer said he didn’t know much about it.

About 11 a.m. the next day, the mother of one of the boys called police to say that her 17-year-old nephew had been hit in the arm by a bullet and that her GMC SUV had been hit by two other bullets.

Rowles told police he had fired three “warning shots” but never pointed the rifle at the boys and that he had been the victim of a previous sign vandalism.

The boys said they were heading home after a haircut and the 16-year-old driver of the SUV said he was “joking and playing” and kicked the sign over while Rowles was sitting on his front porch.

The driver said he yelled, “This is for Obama” to the homeowner.

The boy said that he ran back to the SUV when he realized Rowles was holding a rifle and that Rowles fired a shot that hit the vehicle on the passenger side.

The shot passed through the vehicle and broke out the window on the passenger and driver’s sides.

The 17-year-old passenger was treated at a local hospital for the gunshot wound.

If Rowles is convicted of the charge, he could get up to eight years in prison.

Rowles will be arraigned by Judge Peter Kontos in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court at 10 a.m. Dec. 29.