Officer attacked at crash scene

Report: Fugitive arrested after fight

By MARLY KOSINSKI / Tribune Chronicle
WARREN TOWNSHIP — Lt. Don Bishop said what started out as an accident investigation Monday afternoon turned into a fistfight with a wanted man who did not go quietly.

The fracas landed an Orwell man in jail, sent him and his passenger to the hospital and left Bishop feeling sore.

‘‘It’s been a while since I have fought with someone,’’ he said Tuesday by telephone.

According to Warren Municipal Court records, Karl E. Brugman, 28, of Orwell, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and driving under the influence. He was being held at the Trumbull County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bond Tuesday afternoon and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing June 17, court records show.

Bishop said it began while he was sitting in the parking lot of Glen Christian Church, 5540 Parkman Road N.W., taking a break from a busy morning of calls when a man drove up about 2 p.m. and said a vehicle went into the ditch in the eastbound lane.

Bishop pulled up to 5515 Parkman Road N.W., where he saw a man later identified as Kyle Dorhn of Cleveland lying halfway on the road’s berm and halfway in the ditch. A woman using her cell phone to call 911 told Bishop she saw the accident and said the car swerved to avoid hitting a deer, lost control and flipped over into the ditch, the police report states.

Dorhn told Bishop he was not the driver and the woman said the driver went into the house at 5515 Parkman Road N.W. The resident, whom Bishop knows, was pulling out of the driveway and another man who had no shirt on and tattoos similar to Dorhn’s was sitting in the passenger seat of the resident’s pickup truck, he said.

The man, later identified as Brugman, gave Bishop several false names, including Dorhn’s, prompting Bishop to order him out of the truck. As Bishop was patting him down, Brugman reached for his right pants pocket several times, the report states. Bishop discovered a set of silver brass knuckles in his pocket.

Bishop called for backup and Brugman elbowed him in the left cheek bone, the report states. The struggle continued and Brugman elbowed him several more times, the report states.

Warren Township police Chief Thomas Rush and Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Marvin Hill arrived and completed the arrest after a brief struggle, the report states.

Bishop said Brugman has numerous outstanding warrants, including four in Trumbull County for drug abuse, resisting arrest, a traffic charge out of Cortland and a fugitive warrant. He said police records show the most recent entry states ‘‘approach with caution, violent tendencies.’’

A fugitive warrant out of Lake County on charges of domestic violence, drug abuse and resisting arrest has a similar warning, Bishop said. Ashtabula County has an open warrant on Brugman for failure to appear on charges of domestic violence, resisting arrest and drug possession, according to police records in that county.

Bishop said a warrant issued by Geauga County lists charges of domestic violence, receiving stolen property and having weapons under disability.

‘‘This guy is wanted everywhere,’’ Bishop said.

mkosinski@tribtoday.com