MANSFIELD, Ohio — One man was injured and two men were arrested Tuesday after a fight erupted on Trimble Road in front of Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon.
At about 3:10 p.m. Sheldon happened to be driving his unmarked vehicle northbound on South Trimble Road, near the intersection of Millsboro Road. Traffic stopped and Sheldon noticed three men brawling in the roadway.
“One guy had a lot of blood on his head, and I knew that something serious was going on,” Sheldon said.
As he approached the scene, he activated his vehicle’s emergency lights, got out of his car and identified himself as the sheriff.
“Immediately I was told that one of them had a gun, and so I held everybody at gunpoint and called for backup,” he said.
The sheriff secured the suspect’s gun and had it placed on the hood of his car until backup arrived.
“Mansfield PD and the Sheriff’s Office, and I think an officer from Lexington PD responded,” Sheldon said.
The Mansfield Police Department is handling the case.
“It all sparked from road rage,” said Mansfield police Officer Jodie Williams.
Authorities said a man in a red Dodge van was in front of two young adult men in a tan Ford Taurus in traffic.
“The folks in the tan car got upset with the red van, threw a couple of drink cups at the van and then got out of the vehicle and started charging the driver of the van,” Williams said. “The guy in the van got out with his weapon because he was scared by what they were going to do, and when he stepped out of the vehicle with his gun, they took the gun from him. One of the male individuals struck him on the head, causing him to bleed and then they started physically fighting with him with fists.”
The man who was attacked had his 10-year-old son in the car with him, Williams said. She added that he sustained minor injuries and was coherent. He did not receive treatment at the scene and drove away after talking with authorities.
The two men who attacked the individual were taken to jail, Williams said, but no charges had been filed at the time of publication.
