Liberty student arrested on 3 felonies in assaults of staff, cop, nurse

Staff report

LIBERTY

A 15-year-old Liberty High School student faces felony counts of gross sexual imposition, assault and vandalism after police said he got violent and inappropriately grabbed school employees while possibly on LSD.

He also faces a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

Police said the school’s resource officer on Jan. 16 heard a female teacher yell in the hallway, “Do not touch me,” and called for help.

The officer saw Preston Howard, the student later arrested, running in the hallway and out an exit door into the school’s parking lot. Howard was ordered to stop and complied while mumbling incoherent statements, according to a police report.

Howard was walked into the junior high school office, went up to another school employee, pushed her into a wall while grabbing her buttocks and breasts, police said.

The resource officer pulled Howard off the employee, and attempted to handcuff him when Howard pushed away and lunged for the high school principal, grabbing her breasts, police said.

Two assistant principals helped the resource officer handcuff Howard, who was put into the back of a police cruiser, the report states.

While being driven to the police department, Howard licked the cruiser’s window and knocked the sliding glass portion of a partition window loose, and kicked his right leg through it, hitting the resource officer in the head, the report states.

Once at the police station, Howard was placed on a gurney and transported to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, the report states. Paramedics asked Howard what was he was on, and he replied LSD while yelling obscenities and that he was an “Avenger,” the report states.

While at the hospital, the report states Howard grabbed a female nurse examining him and tried to strangle her with a stethoscope around her neck, .

He again said he had taken LSD, adding that it was given to him by his “dog,” the report states.

The matter is being handled by the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center.

Schools Superintendent Joe Nohra said the district’s highest priority is the safety of its students and staff.

“In partnership with our full-time school resource officer and the Liberty Township Police Department, Liberty Local Schools’ staff is able to efficiently resolve any issue that may arise throughout the school day,” he said. “Liberty Local Schools would like to stress the incident being reported by the media did not take place in any common student areas or in any regular classrooms. Due to the quick action of our staff and school resource officer, the situation was quickly defused and turned over to the Liberty Police Department.”