Alleged hostage-taker brought to Warren for hearing, taken back to Youngstown

Staff report

WARREN

Richard Ware, one of the three men accused of taking a corrections officer hostage for five hours last week at the Trumbull County jail, was brought to Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Monday for a hearing shackled hand and foot.

Most inmates wear handcuffs but not shackles on their feet.

Ware, 27, of Warren, was in the courtroom of Judge Peter Kontos in one of several pending aggravated robbery cases.

His next pretrial hearing in this case was set for June 23, and a jury trial was set for Sept. 29.

After the hearing, he immediately was taken back to the Mahoning County Justice Center, where he has been in custody since late last week.

He and David Martin, 29, of Cleveland, were taken to the Mahoning County lockup after initially going to the Ohio State Penitentiary on Wednesday night after the hostage situation ended.

Charges against the three suspects are pending an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The third suspect is Kevin Johns, 24, of Cincinnati, who has been transferred to the state prison system, already having been sentenced to 28 years in prison.