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Police say dad beat son, fired shot after toddler wet bed
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police said a man arraigned in municipal court Friday beat his son for wetting the bed, then threatened to kill the 3-year-old so the boy’s mother could spend more time with two other children in their home.
James Gadd, 29, who has a listed address of Oregon Avenue but said Friday he lives on Dixon Street, was arraigned before Judge Elizabeth Kobly on five first-degree misdemeanor charges: discharging a firearm in city limits, two counts of domestic violence and two counts of aggravated menacing.
Judge Kobly set his bond at $5,000 on each charge and $25,000 total.
Reports said police were called to Gadd’s home about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, where the mother of the child told them Gadd had run away after threatening her and the child and firing a shot from a .380-caliber handgun. The woman showed police where a shell casing was, and they took it for evidence, reports said.
The woman told police that her son climbed into bed with her and Gadd during the night and the child wet the bed. Gadd first spanked the child, then started punching him, reports said.
Reports said the woman tried to stop Gadd and he hit her, which is when she said she was leaving him with the children. There were two children in the home, reports said.
Gadd then pulled a gun and pointed it at the 3-year-old, saying he was upset that the woman did not spend enough time with the other two kids. The woman said he told her: “If I shoot and kill him, you will have all the time you need with the girls,” reports said.
Gadd said, “I never did that,” from the Mahoning County jail where he was being arraigned via video as Assistant City Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno read the charges against him.
Reports said Gadd also placed a gun to the head of the woman and told her “the only way you are going to leave me is in a box,” before firing a shot and leaving.
Reports said Gadd was found in a nearby apartment by police, who got permission to enter and arrested him without incident.