Man enters guilty plea for assault on prison guard

YOUNGSTOWN — An inmate at the Ohio State Penitentiary may be looking at additional prison time after entering a guilty plea on charges of assault on a guard and intimidation.

David McComb Jr., 26, who is serving time on burglary and aggravated robbery charges, reached the plea agreement with Mahoning County prosecutors earlier this week. McComb had been serving eight years on the current charges and was due to be released from prison in March.

The conviction and new felony charges could keep McComb incarcerated for an additional six years. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors have agreed to a one-year sentence for the intimidation and a six-month sentence on the assault to run concurrently.

Mark Hockensmith, an assistant county prosecutor, said two corrections officers went to McComb’s cell in 2009 to explain and deliver a disciplinary ticket when McComb grabbed the chemical repellant from one officer’s belt, then grabbed the officer’s arm when he tried to retrieve the repellant.

The second officer stepped in and helped subdue McComb, Hockensmith said.

The intimidation charge, Hockensmith said, came from a threat McComb made days after the incident against the officer who helped subdue him in the cell.

McComb is scheduled to be sentenced March 8 by Judge James C. Evans of common pleas court.