Warren teacher remains jailed in stalking case

WARREN - A Warren teacher remains behind bars as his stalking case was bound over to a Trumbull County grand jury following Friday's preliminary hearing that revealed a notebook police said the defendant kept containing intimate details and facts the victim said he never should have known.

Dominic R. Leone, 39, 226 Meadowbrook Ave. S.E., is being held with no bond, according to a ruling by Warren Municipal Judge Terry Ivanchak.

A Trumbull County grand jury will hear about accusations of stalking and harassment that fellow teacher Laura Ware said she was subjected to after breaking off a relationship with Leone because he was ''cheating.''

The grand jury will have the options of indicting or not indicting Leone on a felony stalking charge or may choose to amend the charge.

It will be Common Pleas Court, though, that will deal with whether Leone gets a bond, which was revoked about a week ago after city prosecutor Traci Timko Rose said there were issues with Leone's house arrest conditions. She said Leone failed to charge the batteries that power the connection between defendants and a company that monitors them.

When the company lost track of Leone, his bond was revoked and he was arrested for a second time and placed in jail. Leone remains on administrative leave from his teaching position with Warren City Schools. He was teaching physical education at Jefferson K-8, the same place Ware teaches eighth grade.

Leone resigned his football coaching position with the Mineral Ridge School District last December.

Leone's attorney Mark Hanni claims any stalking was a retaliation on the part of Ware after a messy breakup.

Ware, 44, testified Leone was her ex-boyfriend of eight years and had been following her and her friends since August. She said he has been in her yard, has looked in her windows and has been seen at her workplace looking inside her car.

She said her new boyfriend's car was keyed.

''Whether it was Applebee's, Giant Eagle or the gym, he always seemed to know where I was,'' said Ware, who had her car checked to see if a Global Positioning System tracking device had been placed on it.

Warren Detective Wayne Mackey, who investigated the case, talked to Leone March 20 and informed him he was under investigation and could be charged if he continued.

Later a notebook diary containing Ware's whereabouts and even telephone conversations was turned over to Mackey by school officials, leading up to the arrest.

Leone was hired by the district in 2000.

The teacher was found guilty in 2001 of disorderly conduct and in 2002 of criminal trespassing. He was ordered to complete an anger management class and to refrain from further engaging in conduct unbecoming of a teacher.

cbobby@tribtoday.com