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Youngstown man gets a year for spitting on cop
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man who was sentenced Thursday to a year in the Mahoning County jail for spitting on a police officer in October 2014 was told he’s lucky that’s all he got.
Judge Lou A. D’Apolito told Anthony Girardi, 28, of Market Street, during his sentencing hearing in Common Pleas Court that the officers showed remarkable restraint in dealing with him after an accident call on Belle Vista Avenue, and that he could have been seriously injured or worse.
“The police officers showed restraint because the whole thing got way out of hand,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Girardi pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to a count of harassment by bodily fluids, a fifth-degree felony, and misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and driving while under suspension.
The 12-month jail sentence is part of two years’ probation handed down to Girardi, who will be given credit for about four months he has served in jail while awaiting the outcome of his case.
Reports said Girardi spit on the shirt of Patrolman Seann Carfolo after a traffic accident Oct. 25 at Belle Vista and Connecticut avenues.
Carfolo was not in court Thursday.
Police responded to the accident and cuffed Girardi and put him in the back of a cruiser. He was able to slip his hands from behind his back to his front, however, and then get out of the cruiser. Police then attempted to recuff him when he spat on Carfolo.
Judge D’Apolito said spitting on a person is one of the worst things you can do them.
“It’s such a disrespect to the police officer,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Girardi apologized and said he agreed when Judge D’Apolito told him he should apologize to the officer. At his plea hearing, Girardi said he was drunk at the time of the incident.
The judge said he will be monitoring Girardi while he is in jail and wants to know how he treats corrections officers there to see if he has learned his lesson. If he has, Judge D’Apolito said he may consider an early release for Girardi, but he also wants him to get help for substance abuse.