Man charged with assaulting officer

Staff report

new castle, pa.

A man who officials say punched a police officer after his daughter was in a car accident had no apparent reason to be upset, the Shenango Township police chief said.

“We really don’t know what his problem was,” said Police Superintendent William Phillips on Tuesday. “He’s just a volatile personality,” Phillips said Tuesday.

Police said Adam Christopher Ginocchi, 36, of Jenny Lane in New Castle, ended up punching Shenango officer Michael McGuire after the accident involving his 21-year-old daughter.

The accident happened at 5:18 p.m. Monday on Savannah Road just west of Old Pittsburg Road. The woman had lost control of her car, which went over a hill then rolled over, Phillips said.

He said she was not seriously hurt but was taken to the hospital to have a cut on her hand stitched.

Phillips said she already was gone when Ginocchi arrived and began screaming and threatening volunteer firefighters who still were at the scene.

“He starting screaming about not salting roads and having him [a firefighter] fired,” Phillips said, adding that the firefighter pointed out he had nothing to do with salting roads.

A police report indicates that Officer McGuire told Ginocchi “numerous times” to stop his tirade, but he did not. He then began to threaten McGuire, police said.

Ginocchi, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 280 pounds, punched the 5-foot-7-inch, 160-pound officer in the face and neck at least three times, Phillips said.

Officer McGuire used his stun gun, but it had no effect — police later realized it had struck a cellphone in Ginocchi’s pocket, the report said.

The officer eventually got control of Ginocchi and arrested him, the report said. He was taken to the Shenango Township police station. While he was there, Ginocchi showed no signs of drug or alcohol intoxication, Phillips said.

He was taken to the Lawrence County Jail and arraigned Tuesday morning.

He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, one count of simple assault, one count of harassment and one count of disorderly conduct.

He was taken back to jail in lieu of a $75,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday at Lawrence County Central Court.