Newton Township man accused of pointing rifle at deputy, asking to be shot

Staff report

NEWTON FALLS

Joshua G. Santone, 36, of Hallock-Young Road in Newton Township, is in the Trumbull County Jail, accused of pointing a rifle at a Trumbull County deputy sheriff in February and asking to be shot.

Santone was arraigned Tuesday in Newton Falls Municipal Court on charges of felony burglary and burglary and misdemeanor resisting arrest.

No plea was required on the felonies; he pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor, and Judge Philip Vigorito set bond at $25,000.

Deputy Harold Wix responded to a Hallock-Young Road address at 6 p.m. Feb. 18 for a domestic dispute and first met Santone at the front door, but Santone quickly closed it and went through the house toward the side door.

When the side door opened, Santone pointed a rifle at the deputy, causing the deputy to take cover by a tree and pull his gun.

Santone then “exited the house and came at this officer, pointing the rifle at me. I advised [Santone] to put the weapon down, and his reply was, ‘Shoot me,’” Wix said in a police report.

“The suspect then threw the weapon to the ground and started to flee into the woods,” the report says.

With help from area departments, Wix captured Santone a short time later in a nearby barn and took him into custody. Santone was taken to ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital for a mental-health evaluation.

Santone returns to court at 10:30 a.m. March 19.