Rodeo owner faces charges for setting off fireworks at Trumbull fair

Staff report

CORTLAND

A Ripley, Ohio, man who purportedly ignored warnings from a Trumbull County Fair Board member and the Bazetta fire chief regarding fireworks has been charged with a felony in Central District Court.

James N. McElroy, 67, is charged with discharging fireworks without a proper permit or supervision. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 18 months in prison. No hearing date has been set.

The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office said McElroy, owner of the Broken Horn Rodeo, set off fireworks during the rodeo performed at the fair Friday night, spooking horses.

Mounted Trumbull County deputy Allen Smith, 75, of Orangeville, was thrown from his horse, which was near the grandstand, because of the fireworks, the sheriff’s office said.

In the fall, he broke three ribs, suffered a punctured lung and broken shoulder. He initially was taken to St. Joseph Health Center in Warren but was transferred to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, where he remained Wednesday after surgery.

A police report says fair board member Bud Rogers learned that the rodeo was planning to shoot off fireworks during the rodeo without a permit and asked McElroy not to do it.

McElroy told Rogers he still intended to set off the fireworks, so Rogers told Bazetta Fire Chief Dennis Lewis, who also spoke with McElroy.

At that point, Rogers and Lewis were told that McElroy would cancel the fireworks portion of the event, the report said.

When asked later about the fireworks, McElroy told a sheriff’s deputy that he “sets off fireworks at all his shows and has never had this problem at any other shows.”