Man is charged in gun firing

The dog bit the intruder, who claimed the gun found at the scene was not his.

YOUNGS-TOWN — A Leetonia man accused of shooting at a dog inside his ex-boss’s Canfield Road home was drunk at the time, police said.

Todd Menousek, 33, of Madison Avenue was arraigned Monday in municipal court on a felony charge of discharging a firearm into a habitation and misdemeanor charges of having a weapon while intoxicated and discharging a gun within city limits.

Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly set bond at $28,500. Menousek will be back in court Monday for a preliminary hearing on the felony and pretrial hearing on the misdemeanor charges.

Menousek told the judge, that, based on the amount of bond, he wouldn’t be able to hire a lawyer. An attorney will be court-appointed to represent him.

Police were sent to the 1600 block of Canfield Road around 7:30 p.m. Sunday to check out a reported fight with a gun involved. First officers on the scene found Menousek, who was recently fired from his job at AAA Customs, being held down in the dining room by the man who fired him.

Menousek, who entered the house through an open front door, wanted his job back at the vehicle customizing shop, saying he has a child on the way and needs money, reports show. It wasn’t immediately clear why Menousek was fired; records show the car customizing business is on Market Street.

The 27-year-old ex-boss told police Menousek got loud, pulled out a .380-caliber handgun and started talking crazy, saying that he has nothing to live for and that he’d shoot the dog. Reports don’t describe the breed.

When Menousek rushed the dog, the animal bit him and then ran downstairs to the basement, with Menousek following behind and firing one round toward the stairs, according to the dog’s owner.

A struggle then ensued between Menousek and his ex-boss and the gun fell to the floor where police later found it, along with extra cartridges officers think fell out of Menousek’s clothing.

Menousek’s version of what happened, police said, is that he stopped by to borrow $400 to pay his electric bill and was assaulted for no reason and bitten by the dog.

When asked about the gun, he told police he sold it to his ex-boss a few months ago and denied firing it. He offered this information without knowing what kind of gun police found in the house. He did admit that he was drunk, police said.

A crime lab officer gave both Menousek and his ex-boss gunshot residue tests and photographed all evidence found inside the house, including splintered wood in the door frame near the basement stairs where the dog ran.