Victim files suit in stabbing case

YOUNGSTOWN

A New Springfield woman, one of four people stabbed or cut in a fight outside a tavern last year, has sued the now-incarcerated man who stabbed her in the neck, the tavern and the tavern operator.

Christina Longo, 26, of Springfield Road, sued her assailant, Ryan Powell, 27, of Garfield Avenue, East Palestine; the Petersburg Inn, 14156 Youngstown-Pittsburgh Road; and its operator, Robert Smith, Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The lawsuit alleges tavern personnel continued to serve alcoholic beverages to Powell after he became obviously intoxicated, and failed to remove Powell from the premises when he initially became aggressive on Feb. 20, 2010.

Smith could not be reached for comment.

The suit, which demands a jury trial and seeks more than $25,000 in damages, says Longo, who was stabbed in the neck, has incurred medical expenses and lost income and future earning capacity as a result of the assault. The civil lawsuit, filed by Atty. J. Gerald Ingram, is assigned to Judge John M. Durkin.

Read more in Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com