Civil lawsuits filed in Campbell beating case

CAMPBELL — Civil lawsuits were filed Thursday against five of the seven men charged in the June 24 beating of a 32-year-old Austintown man at a Blossom Avenue home.

The suits were brought in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by the victim, Seth M. Leach, of Ayrshire Drive; and the owner of the home in which the beating occurred, Lori Perry.

The defendants, also facing criminal charges of kidnapping, aggravated burglary and felonious assault in connection with the assault, are: Joseph R. Perry Sr., of Tenney Avenue, Campbell; Joseph R. Perry Jr., of Peters Drive, Campbell; Mark A. Ziemianski of South Navarre Avenue, Austintown; Jimmy C. Riley of Harold Lane, Campbell; and Brandon T. Dotson of Selma Avenue, Youngstown.

Also charged with kidnapping, aggravated burglary and felonious assault, but not named in the civil suits, are Anthony Scandy Jr., of Calla Road, Poland; and Richard Michaels, of West Hampton Drive, Youngstown.

Scandy and Michaels were not sued because, though they were present during the beatings, they did not participate in them, said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Charles E. Dunlap of Canfield.

Also, according to the police report, when the Perrys left, they told the others to “finish it and dump him in the lake.”

However, Leach and Lori Perry told police that Scandy and Michaels prevented further assault on Leach, cut him loose and took him to his father’s home in Austintown.

Dunlap said the civil suits were filed quickly because “it is such a weird case, I thought it should not linger. When my clients told me their horror story, I decided to file immediately.”

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com