Youngstown man jailed in assault of his father

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — A Youngstown man is in Trumbull County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bond accused of slamming his father’s head into a table in a dispute over custody of his daughter.

Joseph Winkfield III, 29, 148 Lincoln Way, pleaded innocent to felonious assault Tuesday in Warren Municipal Court. He was arrested late Monday at his father’s house on Belvedere Avenue Southeast after his father reported the incident to police from St. Joseph Health Center.

The father, 52, said Winkfield showed up at his house about 11 p.m. Monday with his girlfriend and asked if they could take their 4-month-old daughter with them.

The father had temporary custody of the child and refused to let Winkfield have the baby, he told police.

As the father was walking away from Winkfield, Winkfield grabbed his father from behind, placed his hands around his head and slammed it against a table, causing him to black out, the father said. When he awoke, the son and the son’s girlfriend were gone, but the baby was still there.

The father drove with the baby to the hospital, where a doctor diagnosed a fractured nose and orbital bone in the father’s face, police said.

Police went to the father’s house later, found Winkfield and his girlfriend in the basement and arrested Winkfield.

If convicted, Winkfield could spend up to eight years in prison.