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Man convicted in Struthers branding case back in jail
BOARDMAN
A township man who got out of prison early after his conviction for branding a Struthers teenager is back in jail for charges from incidents unrelated to the branding case.
Andrew Kocak Jr., 34, of Buchanan Drive, is charged with menacing by stalking, retaliation, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, domestic violence and telephone harassment. The retaliation charge is a third-degree felony. He also is in violation of his parole.
Kocak was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty in November to felony charges of endangering children, corrupting another with drugs, felonious assault and two counts of intimidation of a crime victim or witness in the branding case.
Three other people were convicted in that case, in which a 17-year-old victim suffered third-degree burns and had to have skin-graft surgery after the group used the lid of a snuff can and martial-arts darts to brand him.
Kocak was granted early release after a July 24 hearing, according to court documents.
Then, township police arrested him Wednesday on charges related to two separate incidents.
The telephone-harassment and menacing-by-stalking charges stem from a July 13 report filed by an ex-girlfriend who told police that Kocak called and wrote to her hundreds of times against her wishes while he was incarcerated.
She reported that Kocak called her 224 times between June 1 and July 13.
The retaliation, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and domestic-violence charges stem from a July 29 incident in which Kocak purportedly took his mother’s vehicle without her consent and then made violent threats against several people, including family members.
He was arrested later that day on Roberts Avenue in Warren. He is in the Mahoning County jail.
Kocak is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.