Jury to decide fate of 23-year-old on assault charge

YOUNGSTOWN — A jury must decide if an Austintown man should spend up to eight years in prison for hitting the father of his girlfriend over the head with a small club during a disagreement in 2010.

Adam Swauger, 23, of North Edgehill Drive, Austintown, has been on trial before a jury of six men and six women in the courtroom of Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Swauger is charged with one count of felonious assault.

Prosecutors and the defense gave closing statements to jurors this morning.

Mark Hockensmith, an assistant county prosecutor, told jurors that Swauger had been arguing with his girlfriend and mother of his two children when he went to the home of her parents where she had been staying. He said the couple had been arguing over a cell phone and memory card.

Hockensmith said Swauger arrived at the Poland Township home and continued the argument with his girlfriend then struck the tail end of a Ford car in the driveway with a small “Blackjack” ­— a club used for self-defense. He said the girl’s father, Wesley Owrey, the victim in the case, demanded Swauger leave the property, but Swauger hit him across the top of the head with the club.

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