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Man is indicted in dragging of officer
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Ray
YOUNGSTOWN
A Mahoning County grand jury handed up indictments against a man accused of using his car to drag a Youngstown State University police officer and another man who held police at bay twice in December.
Seth McDaniel, 33, of Hazelwood Avenue, was indicted on charges of felonious assault, aggravated robbery, endangering children and two counts of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer.
Youngstown police said YSU Officer Dan Farinelli tried to stop McDaniel for a traffic violation Dec. 20 in the city, but he chased the man across town after he drove off during the traffic stop.
McDaniel is accused of grabbing onto the officer’s sweater vest during the traffic stop and beginning to drive, dragging him about 30 feet. Farinelli rolled away from the car, and he and a second officer who had arrived chased the Jeep, which traveled on Wick Avenue through downtown across the Market Street bridge to Interstate 680.
Near the Connecticut Avenue/Belle Vista exit on I-680 on the West Side, McDaniel rammed the Jeep into one of the cruisers twice before coming to a stop.
McDaniel’s two children, age 5 and 6, were in the back seat of the Jeep, leading to the child-endangering charges.
The aggravated-robbery charge stems from an attempt by McDaniel to grab a gun from one of the officers. The officer said he had to struggle with McDaniel to hold onto the gun.
He is in Mahoning County jail on a $700,000 bond.
Also indicted was Dennis Ray, 50, of Browning Avenue. Ray is charged with possession of a dangerous ordnance in relation to a shotgun he is believed to have been carrying during one of two standoffs with police on consecutive days in December.
Ray remains in county jail on a $100,000 bond. He previously had been indicted by a county grand jury for criminal damaging or endangering.
Police had been following tips and searching the city for Ray after a standoff with police early Dec. 14 on the East Side.
Neighbors in the area of Browning and Stocker avenues heard gunfire throughout the neighborhood at 5 a.m. Wednesday, prompting several calls to 911. Police arrived to see Ray firing a weapon and then retreat into a home at the dead end of Browning.
Police from Youngstown including a tactical weapons team, Canfield, Boardman, Youngstown State University, along with the Youngstown Fire Department and Rural Metro ambulance, surrounded the house. Tear gas was fired into the home, and officers searched the property, determining that Ray no longer was inside. The search extended throughout the East Side and eventually the city.
Ray had been spotted the next day at an East Dewey Avenue home of an aunt. Police converged on the house, but Ray managed to escape out a back door before police arrived.
Ray returned to the Dewey Avenue home a short time later and again tried to escape out a back door when he learned police were near the house. Officers surrounded the house before Ray could make an escape.
Officers spent a considerable amount of time coaxing Ray to leave the house, using a loudspeaker inside one of the marked cars. When Ray did not come out, negotiators attempted to reach Ray on a telephone inside the home.
Officers eventually saw Ray moving around inside the house and persuaded him to come to the door. A short time later, he came out the front door, walking slowly and smoking a cigarette.