Teenager charged in Struthers domestic violence incident

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A Youngstown teenager facing a fourth-degree felony charge of strangulation for a domestic incident earlier this month in Struthers entered pleas of denial Tuesday in Mahoning County Juvenile Court.

The teen also entered a plea of denial — the juvenile equivalent of not guilty — to a first-degree misdemeanor assault charge.

The teen, who was not in custody before Tuesday, was placed on electronically monitored house arrest by Magistrate Karen Romano Melone.

The teen was also ordered to have no contact with the victim.

WKBN does not reveal the names of juvenile defendants charged with crimes unless their cases are bound over to a grand jury and indicted in common pleas court.

Reports said a neighbor called police after he saw the teen hit a female. When police arrived, the victim, another teenager, told them she had been arguing with the defendant Sept. 14 on the way home from a party the evening before.

The teen became physically aggressive, grabbed the female by the neck and threw her out of a car, reports said. Reports said the two wrestled in a yard before the teen ran away.

Defense attorney Frank Cassese asked that his client not be placed on house arrest, saying his client appeared voluntarily and has no prior criminal record.

Magistrate Melone said she was inclined to place the teen on house arrest because of the felony charge.

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