Political argument ends with three struck by cane, report says

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

A 54-year-old man beat three people with his cane in a bar on Thursday after becoming angry during a political argument, according to a police report.

Douglas Dennison, of Austintown, was at Wyle E Coyote’s at 4176 Mahoning Ave. when he allegedly started striking people with his metal cane.

A bartender told police he was trying to get Dennison to calm down when he raised his cane at a patron. After he started approaching a woman, the threatened patron grabbed his arm, and Dennison is accused of striking him with his cane knocking him to the ground.

Two others – including the patron he had initially threatened – tried to restrain Dennison and remove him from the bar, and the report said he struck them in the wrist and head respectively. The report said the patron who was struck in the head collapsed later and had to be transported to the hospital.

Police found Dennison at another bar, and he claimed one of the victims had hit him with a pool cue and he was defending himself, but security camera footage reportedly verified the victims’ stories and showed Dennison to be the aggressor.

Dennison is charged with three counts of felonious assault. He will appear Monday in Mahoning County Area Court.