Man pleads no contest to setting off fireworks

Staff report

WARREN

James McElroy, 67, of Ripley, Ohio, pleaded no contest this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to improperly setting off fireworks at the county fair last summer, injuring a deputy with the sheriff’s office.

McElroy’s plea to a misdemeanor charge prevented him from going to trial in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan on Monday. McElroy was placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. He had been indicted on a felony charge that could have resulted in a prison term of up to 18 months.

McElroy, who operates Broken Horn Rodeo, set off fireworks during the rodeo, despite being told it was illegal.

The fireworks spooked a horse being ridden by Deputy Allen Smith, 75, throwing Smith from the horse and breaking three ribs, puncturing a lung and breaking his shoulder.