Affidavit recounts Marshals struggle with fugitive at Niles motel

New details have emerged about a confrontation with a wanted man at a Niles motel that resulted in the suspect and a U.S. Marshal being injured.
Federal authorities on Wednesday charged Montrell Holmes with assaulting, resisting, impeding officers who were trying to arrest him for previous warrants.
Investigators say they had been looking for Holmes as one of the suspects involved in a police chase last week that resulted in the collision with a Boardman Police cruiser and the injury of an officer.
An affidavit filed with the federal complaint says U.S. Marshals spotted Holmes’ car parked outside the Days Inn along Youngstown Warren Road on Monday.
After learning from the clerk that Holmes was staying there, Marshals and police surrounded the motel and knocked on the door of his room.
When two other officers said they spotted Holmes on the second-floor balcony, a Marshal kicked the door open were they saw several people in the room and Holmes on the balcony.
The Marshal and a Task Force officer say they struggled to arrest Holmes on the balcony.
That’s when the balcony railing failed, allowing Homes and Marshal to plummet to the ground below.
Officers say as the struggle continued on the ground, two other officers then moved in. One of them fired a Taser at Holmes two times, eventually placing the suspect in handcuff and knee restraints.
EMTs treated the Marshal who fell from the balcony at the scene for hand, neck, and face injuries.
Holmes was taken to Trumbull Regional Medical Center for treatment.
After being released from the hospital the following day, Holmes was booked into the Mahoning County jail. His booking photo showed a stitched-up wound on his nose.
In addition to the federal charge, the 25-year-old New Haven, Connecticut man faces local charges of fleeing police, theft, receiving stolen property, and obstructing official business.
He’s scheduled to be arraigned on those local charges in Mahoning County Court in Boardman Thursday afternoon.