YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A man awaiting trial on charges that he injured a man during a fight over fireworks has picked up additional charges while in jail.
This week, investigators with the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office charged Robert Walp, 21, of Beaver Township, with four counts of assault on a police officer, firefighter or EMS worker.
Three of the charges are fifth-degree felonies based on an incident Aug. 10, according to municipal court records.
The other incident was charged as a fourth-degree felony and took place July 23. Walp also has a misdemeanor charge of aggravated menacing.
Walp has been in the Mahoning County Jail since July 9, when he was booked in by Beaver Township police following a fight over fireworks at the Maplecroft Trailer Park.
A man who was beaten severely in the face told police that he had confronted a group of people who were lighting off fireworks, and one of the men threatened to burn down his home, said, “You don’t know the people I do,” then punched the man in the face.
After the man fell to the ground, the suspect kept kicking him, reports said.
The suspect, later identified as Walp, told police that he acted in self-defense, reports said.
A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Walp earlier this month on a charge of felonious assault. At the time he was arraigned in Mahoning County Area Court in Canfield, he was given a $5,000 bond, which he was not able to post.
He was arraigned Wednesday in municipal court on the new charges and given a bond of $5,000 there also. He is still in the jail.
Incident reports for the new charges were not immediately available.