Boardman man pleads innocent in shovel case

Photo

Russell Wine

Staff report

BOARDMAN

A 31-year-old township resident pleaded innocent to two counts of felonious assault during his arraignment Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Russell W. Wine is accused of hitting two men in the head with a shovel Sept. 12 at 226 Melrose Ave.

Police said Wine walked over to a neighbor’s yard, where two men sitting on the front-porch steps were drinking beer.

According to police reports, Wine told officers that he heard the two men from inside his home, confronted them and “freely admitted to striking the pair with the shovel.”

The injured men were taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center. One has been released from the hospital, but the other still is in critical condition.

Wine posted $24,000 bond and remains out of jail, as Judge R. Scott Krichbaum continued that bond.

The case is scheduled to go to trial at 10 a.m. Nov. 22.