Toledo man gets 17 months for aggravated assault

7/30/2011
BLADE STAFF

A Toledo man involved in the Oct. 11 injury of a man soaked with transmission fluid was sentenced this week in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to 17 months in prison.

Shanah A. Newsome, 33, of 519 Potter St. entered an Alford plea July 5 to one count of aggravated assault. Judge Frederick McDonald found him guilty of assaulting Thomas Moore III, 27, of West Toledo, who was found beaten and splattered with transmission fluid in the street in the 2500 block of Airport Highway.

A second man, Ricardo Lewis, 33, was sentenced to six months in custody in March after pleading no contest to misdemeanor assault for his role in the incident, which included pouring the fluid over the victim’s head. Hospital personnel determined the victim had ingested fluid, but he suffered no serious physical harm from that.

In an Alford plea, the defendant maintains his innocence or does not admit he committed a crime, but acknowledges sufficient evidence for a conviction. The court treats it as a guilty plea.