NEWTON TOWNSHIP - Patrolman Tom Colosimo, a volunteer officer who has been involved in two cruiser crashes in the last two months, was hit by a bullet Monday afternoon near a cell phone tower off of Miller Graber Road.
Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere said the bullet struck Colosimo's bulletproof vest, and he was not injured.
The shooting occurred near the train tracks where Colosimo's police cruiser was hit by a train in May. Township police have been investigating copper thefts in the area for months.
According to staff at the Newton Falls Joint Fire District, an ambulance took Colosimo to St. Joseph Health Center in Warren at about 3:50 p.m. Monday. Colosimo was released from the hospital and sheriff's detectives will interview him today, Altiere said.
"We have a vague description of the (suspect). We'll just follow up tomorrow like any case," the sheriff said. "We have sketchy stuff now at the most.''
Colosimo did not return a message. He is retired from the military and began volunteering with Newton Township in December under a new job title of part-time, no pay.
Newton Falls Police Chief Robert Carlson said Monday afternoon that he heard a report that shots were exchanged between a police officer and a shooter. He has not released the emergency call tape.
Township police would not comment on the investigation, now that it is being handled by the Sheriff's Office. But township officers and volunteer officers from Newton Falls appeared to be assisting detectives. A township officer rode an ATV on a dirt road in the direction of the cell phone tower, where barking dogs could be heard.
Local resident Chip Stork said he was not used to the commotion around his home. He was outside Monday afternoon and heard a gunshot, though at first he thought it came from the turnpike behind his home.
Stork is new to the area but said he was aware of May's cruiser wreck and the township's search for scrap metal thieves.
"They seem determined to catch the people on the tracks," Stork said.
Colosimo bolted from his cruiser May 12 while it was parked on CSX tracks to chase suspects in copper thefts. He called Newton Falls dispatch to tell him he was involved in a chase, but the train company was not called. He did not catch the two suspects, and the cruiser was smashed by a train. The dispatcher was suspended for two weeks.
On June 14, Colosimo, who also is an officer with West Farmington, was involved in another cruiser wreck there. He was on patrol early in the morning when he saw another vehicle with its high-beams on traveling in his lane. To avoid a head-on collision, Colosimo said he swerved sharply into another lane, where he lost control of the cruiser and hit a guardrail. The cruiser was totaled.
In both instances, Colosimo was uninjured. He was not cited in either crash.