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Man indicted on felony charges in chase
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A Trumbull County grand jury has indicted a 22-year-old West Avenue man on five felony charges carrying a possible penalty of 20 years in prison for reportedly leading police on a 26-minute chase through the city May 8.
The chase, which began when a Warren police officer attempted to make a traffic stop for loud music, resulted in six crashes and injuries to Warren Patrolman Patrick Hoolihan.
The grand jury indicted Aswad D. Fleming on single counts of failure to comply with the orders of a police officer, felonious assault, failure to stop after an accident, tampering with evidence and assault.
The grand jury refused to indict him on three additional counts of felonious assault, three additional counts of failure to stop after an accident and one count of receiving stolen property.
The additional charges would have carried penalties of close to 30 additional years in prison.
Fleming has been in the Trumbull County Jail since the incident. He will be arraigned in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
Police said the felonious assault and failure-to-stop charges related to individuals involved in the crashes caused by the chase, including crashes involving two Warren police officers, an Ohio State Highway patrolman and a motorist not in law enforcement.
The assault charge relates to the highway patrol trooper, whose car reportedly was struck by Fleming’s vehicle. The receiving stolen property charge related to the vehicle Fleming was driving at the time of the chase, which the owner said Fleming did not have permission to drive.
The chase prompted an internal-affairs investigation by the Warren Police Department that concluded that the officers had not violated departmental policies while conducting the chase.