Woman in Taser case hospitalized

For now, the home is being treated as a crime scene, said the police chief.

HOWLAND — A township woman who recently gained national notoriety after a Taser incident with a Warren city police officer has been hospitalized with puncture wounds.

Dispatchers at the Trumbull County 911 Center said officers from the Warren Police Department informed them at 5:24 p.m. Friday that Heidi Gill, 38, of Howland, had been taken to St. Joseph Health Center with what were being described as puncture wounds. Gill was listed in stable condition late Friday.

Gill reportedly suffered the injury at her township home. It is unclear whether the injuries are the result of an accident or foul play, but township police Chief Paul Monroe said the home where Gill was found will be treated as a crime scene.

He said officers have to treat the home as a crime scene until they can speak to Gill and ascertain exactly what took place.

Gill received national attention after a Taser incident with a Warren city police officer last year.

Video from Patrolman Richard Kovach’s cruiser shows him jolting a screaming Gill with a Taser electronic device both before and after she was handcuffed. The incident took place outside an East Market Street bar last September.

Gill, handcuffed at the time, was knocked unconscious after she fell to the pavement, Warren police said.

Gill was arrested on charges of falsification, assault, resisting arrest, criminal damaging and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, officials said. Those charges have since been dismissed.

Kovach has been fired because of his actions in an unrelated case. He received a 60-day suspension because of his actions during the Gill arrest.