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Charges upgraded in beating case
By joe gorman
YOUNGstown
Prosecutors upgraded charges against a Second Street man accused of beating a 77-year-old neighbor Sunday.
Darin Brinsey, 38, was arraigned in Municipal Court on Tuesday on a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony. He was given a $15,000 cash or surety bond by Magistrate Anthony Sertick and has a preliminary hearing Sept. 9.
Brinsey originally had been booked into the jail by police on a misdemeanor charge of assault after his arrest. City Prosecutor Dana Lantz said the charge was upgraded to the more-serious felony Tuesday because of the condition of the man, who has a broken jaw and damage to one of the orbital bones around his eye.
Brinsey has no prior criminal record, Lantz said.
His attorney, Dennis DiMartino, told Magistrate Sertick that his client was off his medication Sunday and is going through a painful divorce.
“It was the culmination of a bad situation and no meds,” DiMartino said.
Officers were called to Second Street about 10:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of a man lying in the street bleeding. When they arrived, Brinsey yelled to police that he was defending himself and that the man choked him.
The victim told police Brinsey hollered at him when he was in the street. The victim said he told Brinsey to leave him alone, and Brinsey came over and punched him in the head and face and kicked him in the ribs when he fell to the pavement. The victim had blood on his face, mouth, hands, elbow and knees, reports said.
A witness said they heard arguing, and when they went to check, they saw Brinsey assaulting the man. As he was placed in a cruiser, Brinsey shouted, “I’ll be back,” reports said.
As part of his bond, Brinsey was ordered to have no contact with the victim.