Boardman man indicted in serious injury of infant son


By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

Youngstown

A Boardman man has been indicted on two counts of endangering children, accused of injuring his infant son.

A grand jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court indicted Sam Lippillo, 30, of Meadowbrook Avenue, on Thursday through a direct presentment, meaning he wasn’t initially charged in a lower court.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest, court records show.

In March, Boardman police were called to Akron Children’s Hospital Mahon- ing Valley in Boardman after a hospital social worker told them a man, later identified as Lippillo, brought his infant son in for injuries.

When the 3-month-old boy was brought to the hospital, he was unconscious and not breathing.

At the time, Lippillo told hospital personnel the child was sleeping on the couch at the home when the family dog jumped onto the couch. He said he shooed the dog off, but the baby then fell to the floor and lost consciousness.

But a CAT scan showed nine rib fractures as well as “multiple brain bleeds which appeared to be from previous injuries,” according to a police report.

Police said Thursday that the infant’s injuries were “common to shaken baby syndrome.”

At the time of the police report, hospital staff told police that the severity of the boy’s injuries made it unlikely to have occurred from falling off of a couch.

The child was flown to Akron Children’s in Akron and spent time in the intensive care unit.

The boy, now 5 months old, is in foster care.

The child’s mother wasn’t home at the time he was injured but came to the hospital that evening.