Wednesday, February 27, 2008
WARREN – Shane DeSmith says he’s had it with street life after being tortured over a $50 drug debt.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Election Day for two men charged with torturing the 25-year-old Leavittsburg man.
So extreme were his injuries that DeSmith’s mother, Lisa DeSmith, thought he looked like the “Elephant Man” when she first saw him after his severe beating and burning.
Police have charged Stephen H. DeSantis, 47, and his son, Michael A. DeSantis, 22, both of 928 South St., with kidnapping and felonious assault. The are being held in the Trumbull County jail in lieu of $250,000 each.
They are accused of hijacking DeSmith, of Riverview Drive. He was walking along Porter Street on Saturday when authorities say the DeSantises ordered him into their pickup truck, drove him to their South Street residence and beat and burned him for seven hours.
At one point, DeSmith gave up and told the men to kill him.
Police also have a 17-year-old boy in the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center and are searching for a third adult.
As a result of his experience, DeSantis said he’ll no longer be the middle man in drug deals. “I’ll have a better relationship with my children,” he said. He has two of them.
For more, see Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com