Prosecutors want man jailed without bond on 11th DUI

Staff report

WARREN

Prosecutors are asking a judge to order Russell D. Balch be kept in the Trumbull County jail without eligibility to make bond after he was indicted Friday on his fourth felony drunken-driving charge.

Balch also has been convicted of misdemeanor drunken driving seven times.

Balch, 49, of Arhaven Drive in Braceville, was indicted on two felony drunken-driving charges, one of tampering with evidence, one of marijuana possession, one of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and one of consumption of beer or intoxicating liquor in a motor vehicle.

He’s been in the jail since his Dec. 11 arrest. Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court set Balch’s bond at $1 million Tuesday during his arraignment. A bond hearing will be next Tuesday.

In a Tuesday filing, prosecutors said Balch poses a “substantial risk of serious physical harm to the community” because of his drinking problem and “violent tendencies.”

In support of allowing Balch no bond, prosecutors pointed to an 11th District Court of Appeals ruling that affirmed no bail in a 2010 Trumbull County Common Pleas Court felony drunken-driving case involving Keith Urso.

The city man was later sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of his 15th drunken-driving offense.

Balch’s most recent charge followed a 911 call by someone saying Balch was refusing to leave the location and was making death threats toward a woman and her mother.

Police learned Balch had driven off in a car owned by his father, but police arrested him without incident a short time later. His blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.223, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.

He also admitted smoking marijuana and methamphetamine, the filing says.

While talking to police, Balch threatened to kill the woman and her mother.