Niles man pleads guilty to vandalism

Staff report

WARREN

One of the two men accused of stealing a John Deere tractor shovel and using it to damage Niles McKinley High School last March pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of vandalism and one count of aggravated theft.

Michael J. Butler, 20, of Robbins Avenue, Niles, entered guilty pleas in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to five felonies and one misdemeanor count of criminal damaging.

He will be sentenced by Judge W. Wyatt McKay after the Trumbull County Adult Probation Department conducts a presentence investigation.

Niles police said Butler and Joseph A Barrickman II, 19, of Woodside Lane in Warren Township used the tractor to smash several construction trailers at a construction site at 616 Dragon Drive and then damaged a vacant home at 134 Woodland Ave.

The tractor also damaged the football scoreboard, a chain-link fence and a residential swimming pool. Police found graffiti painted on walls inside the high school.

Barrickman’s case is pending.