Shelby, Ohio, man indicted in Erie County home robbery

4/16/2004

SANDUSKY - A north-central Ohio man has been indicted on eight felony counts related to a home robbery that ended with him being shot and beaten by two of the intended victims, authorities said.

Thomas W. Fulton, Jr., 47, of Shelby is charged with three counts of kidnapping, three counts of felonious assault, one count of aggravated burglary, and one count of having a weapon under disability.

Sgt. Bob Lippert of the Erie County sheriff's department said Fulton went to a Berlin Township home on March 12 and confronted an elderly couple and their daughter at gunpoint. One of the three, a 69-year-old man, tried to wrestle a handgun away from Fulton, while his wife ran into a bedroom, grabbed a 9mm pistol, and hit the intruder in the head with it, Sergeant Lippert said.

The woman's husband eventually got control of Fulton's gun and shot him, the sergeant said.

According to authorities, Fulton fled and walked into a Norwalk car dealership, saying he had been shot. He was hospitalized for two weeks, which led to a delay in indicting him, Sergeant Lippert said.

Fulton was previously convicted of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, robbery, theft, passing bad checks, and unauthorized use of a vehicle in Holmes County.