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STEUBENVILLE -- A Wintersville man was booked into the Jefferson County Jail after allegedly threatening a television news crew covering a Tuesday press conference outside the justice center.
Santino Chiovitti, 20, of 229 Beechwood Blvd. is facing an inducing panic charge in Steubenville Municipal Court, though additional charges may be forthcoming, according to Jefferson County sheriff's deputies.
A bystander told deputies the man was "saying something toward a WTRF-TV news crew while reaching into his jacket (and) she thought he was grabbing a gun." They located Chiovitti, who claimed the station was "posting fake stories and slandering his family."
The crew was covering a press conference held by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, involving rail safety.
Chiovitti's sister, Carmina S. Chiovitti of McDonald, Pa., was booked into the county jail Monday on a burglary charge after Steubenville police found her and a companion at a Scioto Drive residence. Steubenville police said a screen door had been knocked off its track, an inside window was shattered, pictures in the home had been damaged and the home appeared to have been ransacked. Police also reported finding several opened beers, hard ice teas and a shovel inside a vehicle belonging to the owner of the property, who was not present, and a lanyard with Carmina Chiovitti's ID in the driveway. A shotgun was on the ground along with a backpack containing ammuniton for a handgun and a black pistol magazine.
Ohio Revised Code defines burglary as "trespassing in an occupied structure or in a separately secured or separately occupied portion of an occupied structure, with purpose to commit in the structure or separately secured or separately occupied portion of the structure any criminal offense."
Deputies said Santino Chiovitti told them the station "would not post the whole story and stated (his sister) did not steal anything from the house" and that he wanted them to take it down "because it was all lies." When the news crew told him they weren't taking the story down, he said he told them he was "going to blow the heads off of the reporters." He allegedly told deputies he was "just making fake news stories and doing the same thing to them as they are doing to his family" and insisted he'd done nothing wrong, but deputies pointed out threatening to "blow people's heads off" and acting like he is grabbing a firearm is in itself a crime.
Santino Chiovitti allegedly told another deputy the TV news story was false and after being told they wouldn't remove it, he was "only exercising his right to free speech" when he threatened violence. He also told that deputy he "knows it was a stupid thing to do."
Two other bystanders told deputies the man ran across Ohio 7 toward the news crew and "had his right hand inside his jacket, which made it appear he was holding a firearm." They said he yelled at the reporters, "You're going to want to hear this," while still holding his hand inside his jacket, then looked at the two bystanders and said, "You're gonna wanna leave," before running to the front of the building.
He also allegedly threatened two other WTRF staff members, News Director Brenda Danehart and Web Manager John Lynch, over the telephone.
Danehart told deputies he demanded she remove the story and when she suggested he should contact Steubenville police if he had anything to add to their narrative, he used vulgar and demeaning language and accused her of "trying to ruin my sister's life." Danehart told deputies he continued arguing with her, eventually telling her, "I think I see a WTRF car down the road, why don't I just blow their heads off?" When Danehart told him what he said was a threat, deputies said he hung up then called Lynch, who said Santino Chiovitti asked him if he was speaking "with the reporter he was looking at right now" outside the justice center.
Carmine Chiovetti was arraigned in Steubenville Municipal Court on Tuesday. Her bond was initially set at $50,000, though she'll be back in court today so her attorney can make the case for her bond being reduced. Her preliminary hearing is set for March 30.
In addition to the inducing panic charge, Santino Chiovitti could face additional charges out of Wheeling since he allegedly called the station and threatened employees there, deputies said.