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Charges against Youngstown man amended after woman changes account
YOUNGSTOWN
Charges were amended against a city man accused of attacking his former girlfriend after the woman told prosecutors the incident did not happen exactly as she initially reported.
Clifford Ross, 36, of North Garland Avenue, had been indicted on charges of aggravated burglary, kidnapping, robbery, felonious assault, menacing by stalking and illegal possession of a firearm. The charges could have landed him in prison for nearly four decades.
Most of the charges against Ross, however, were dismissed under a plea agreement with prosecutors after the victim reportedly changed her account of what took place between herself and Ross in October 2010.
After the woman’s admission that Ross was not carrying a gun and did not attack her as previously stated, prosecutors amended the original indictment dropping the charges of aggravated burglary, kidnapping, menacing and illegal possession of a firearm.
Ross pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft and assault charges.
Judge James Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court suspended any jail time for Ross and placed him on probation for two years.
Court records show the 36-year-old woman told prosecutors Ross did not have a gun and did not attack her as she previously reported.
In the initial police report, the woman told police Ross was waiting for her in the basement of her Boardman Township apartment when she attempted to leave Oct. 23, 2010. The woman is an ex-girlfriend of Ross’.
The woman, in the initial police report, told officers that Ross told her she could not leave the building, then brandished a small handgun and made her return to her apartment. She said Ross began yelling at her and threatening to kill her over another man she had been seeing.
The woman told police Ross kept her in the apartment for about three hours, hitting her with his fists and, at one point, the butt of the gun he was carrying.
Eventually, the woman did leave the apartment but said Ross threatened to kill her if she called police.
Judge Evans sentenced Ross to six months in jail on each misdemeanor charge but suspended the jail time.
He sentenced Ross to two years’ probation and ordered him to pay for a $120 cellphone he damaged that belonged to the victim. The judge also suspended Ross’ $2,000 fine.