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Waitress charged in IHOP fight

HOWLAND — A waitress at the International House of Pancakes on state Route 46 faces an assault charge after police said she was involved in a fight with a coworker at the restaurant.

Tara R. Brown, 41, of Youngstown, pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to a misdemeanor assault charge before Warren Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak, who ordered Brown not to have contact with the victim, Amy Mitchell, 45, of Hubbard, court and police reports state.

Brown, who was assigned a public defender, is scheduled to appear again before Ivanchak on May 10, court records show. If found guilty, Brown faces a possible maximum six-month jail term and $1,000 fine.

According to the Howland police report, officers were dispatched to the IHOP restaurant shortly before 8 p.m. March 2 to investigate a fight in progress. A caller to 911 reported that two waitresses “were actively involved in a physical altercation,” the report states.

Officers talked to Mitchell, who claimed she was assaulted after a brief argument with Brown over an unknown issue. According to the report, as the one woman attempted to walk away, the other grabbed her by the shirt, pushing her to the ground. Once on the ground, the victim told officers she was kicked in the chest and legs before the two were separated.

The victim was not injured, the report states, and refused medical attention. The other woman left the restaurant before officers arrived, the report states.

Trumbull County Jail records state Brown was booked into the jail at 4:27 p.m. Tuesday and was released about two hours later.

The report states the fight was captured on the restaurant’s security video.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com

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