Closing arguments Wednesday in abduction-attempt trial

The defendant testified that he was simply trying to offer the girl help.

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A jury of seven men and five women will hear closing arguments Wednesday in a case accusing a Boardman man of trying to abduct a 14-year-old girl from a busy township street.

Guy Krupa, 49, of Oregon Trail, appeared for trial Monday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He is charged with felony attempted abduction.

Atty. Gabriel Wildman, assistant County prosecutor, opened his case before the jury by labeling Krupa as “every family’s worst nightmare ... a nightmare that almost became a reality.”

According to prosecutors, on the afternoon of April 13, the teen girl was walking along Southern Boulevard to meet a friend. As the girl approached Leighton Avenue, a man, who authorities say was Krupa, driving a tan sport utility vehicle, stopped at a stop sign on Leighton at Southern.

Krupa turned onto Southern and off the road, rolling down his window and blocking the girl’s path. The girl got scared and backed away. He offered her a ride, and she declined.

Prosecutors say Krupa yelled out of the vehicle’s window, “Get in the car.” When she said no, prosecutors say Krupa repeated the order saying “Get in the [expletive] car, seriously.”

Wildman presented a list of witnesses including the teen girl, her mother, two Boardman police officers and a woman who was behind Krupa in traffic when the incident took place and managed to get his license-plate number before calling police.

The teen girl and the woman who called police testified as to the manner in which Krupa approached the girl and his ability to block her with his vehicle.

The woman said the girl appeared to be scared after the side-of-the-road exchange with Krupa.

Defense Attorney Ronald Knickerbocker questioned why the girl had not called for police after meeting up with a friend who was carrying a cell phone or why she had not cried out in fear during the exchange with Krupa.

He also asked each witness if Krupa had physically restrained or threatened the girl.

Knickerbocker, after all the prosecution’s witnesses had been presented, asked Judge Krichbaum to dismiss the case because the state had not proved elements in the indictment requiring force or a threat in the attempted abduction.

The motion was overruled, but Judge Krichbaum did admonish the prosecution about issues in the indictment that the judge himself told prosecutors concerned him in an earlier pretrial — concerns Judge Krichbaum said “fell on deaf ears.”

Krupa took the stand in his own defense saying he saw the girl talking to herself and pointing while walking and was merely trying to offer a helping hand.

He said he only asked the girl if she were OK, whether she needed help and whether she needed a ride.

Knickerbocker, before the trial got under way, asked the judge to not allow any testimony about a previous public indecency conviction Krupa had in 2002. That motion was granted.

jgoodwin@vindy.com