Lawrence County official beaten Saturday, November, 5, 2005
IRONTON -- A Lawrence County official was at the hospital Friday night following a dispute over an election sign located off of Ohio 141.
Jason Townsend, the son of Cecil Townsend, who works for the Ohio Department of Transportation in Lawrence County, said that his father showed up at the house late Friday afternoon after being jumped by three or four male subjects believed to be connected with a local political campaign.
"He looked terrible," Townsend said of his father. "He had dried blood all over his clothes and face."
Jason said that his father told them that he had been called out because of a illegal sign placement along Ohio 141.
When Townsend went to remove the sign, a candidate and several other individuals showed up at the scene and had an altercation with Cecil Townsend.
Be careful out there! People who break sign laws frequently don't have any respect for other laws. In this case, they didn't care about the laws against assault!
#1. "RE: Lawrence County official beaten" In response to Reply # 0
Read the follow-up on this one. Looks like the politician in question was at the scene and actually helped pull people off Mr. Townsend. Win or lose, he needs to choose his volunteers a little more carefully.
#2. "RE: Lawrence County official beaten" In response to Reply # 1
The details are interesting. The sign was a 16 foot banner over the road. Here is the followup:
Investigation continues in election sign altercation The Herald-Dispatch The Herald-Dispatch IRONTON -- No charges have been filed as yet, but an investigation is continuing into an altercation Friday on Ohio 141, six miles north of Ironton, concerning a political sign. Cecil Townsend, director of the Lawrence County garage of the Ohio Department of Transportation, said Saturday he was assaulted when he tried to take down a political sign for Kevin Waldo, a candidate for Ironton Municipal Judge in Tuesday's general election. "We're doing a report," Sheriff Tim Sexton said Saturday afternoon. "I'll turn it over to the prosecutor's office in two or three business days." Townsend tried to get the Ohio Highway Patrol to respond to a call about a 16 foot political banner stretched above Ohio 141. After the incident, Townsend was treated at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Russell and released about 1 a.m. Saturday. The news release from the sheriff's department said two people received injuries and sought medical treatment. The report didn't give the names of the people allegedly being struck. "Any physical altercation that did take place involved two to three male subjects. Of those 2-3 people, none were named Kevin Waldo," according to the news release. Waldo was among 10 to 12 people at the scene, according to the release. "Nobody interviewed in this investigation states Kevin Waldo hit any person or attempted to hit any person," the release said. Witnesses said Waldo "separated people" and acted as a peacemaker and tried to calm people down. Townsend said Waldo did pull someone off him. The sign later was taken down by law enforcement authorities.
