Judge sentences man in standoff

January 28, 2012 at 12:04a.m.

WARREN

Paul A. Mazerik, 46, who held police at bay for 61/2 hours Jan. 7 at his house on Hunter Street Northwest, has been sentenced to 60 days in the Trumbull County jail on a misdemeanor inducing-panic charge.

Mazerik pleaded no contest to the charge Thursday in Warren Municipal Court. Mazerik, a former bail bondsman, received credit for 20 days already served but must serve the remaining 40 days.

Judge Thomas Gysegem also sentenced Mazerik to five years’ probation. Mazerik had a concealed-carry permit at the time of the incident, but he’ll no longer be allowed to own weapons under terms of his probation. The weapons that police confiscated Jan. 7 will be destroyed, the judge ruled.

Police said Mazerik was distraught over a fight with a girlfriend and had threatened to kill himself. Officers talked with him in person just after they arrived at 11:30 p.m. Jan. 6 and saw him in the doorway with a shotgun. For the next 61/2 hours, he talked with police only by telephone. Other than his dogs, he was alone in the house.

One Hunter Street resident estimated that dozens of police officers were at the scene during the standoff, including the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force SWAT Team. Sgt. Jeff Cole of the Warren Police Department estimated the number of officers at the scene at between 10 and 15.

Meanwhile, Mazerik also is facing a felony theft charge filed against him by a representative from the bail-bonding company where he formerly worked.

Ron Metz of Ace Bonding and AA Worldwide Bonding filed a theft charge against Mazerik on Monday. The charge accuses Mazerik of taking $3,849 between April 5, 2010, and Jan. 21, 2011.

Mazerik was also convicted Nov. 1 in Warren Municipal Court on a misdemeanor charge of discharging firearms related to an incident July 22, 2011, in which he fired his handgun just outside his house.