Jury finds ex-officer innocent

Staff report

NEWTON FALLS

A jury has found a former volunteer Newton Township policeman innocent of lying about being shot while on duty in July 2008.

Thomas Colosimo, 37, of Newton Township was charged with falsification, a misdemeanor, after the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department conducted an investigation.

Colosimo reported being shot in his bulletproof vest near a cell-phone tower off Miller-Graber Road while he was investigating suspicious activity.

Colosimo said he was shot by someone who he believed might be trying to steal copper from railroad tracks nearby.

Visiting Judge Barbara Watson of Portage County presided over the two-day trial heard in Newton Falls Municipal Court.