CANTON ‒ A Plain Township man accused of trying to kill a Canton police officer during a Walmart shoplifting incident has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges.
Shane C.L. Newman, 21, also pleaded not guilty on Feb. 20 to felonious assault, robbery, having weapons under disability, carrying concealed weapons, aggravated drug possession, drug possession and obstructing official business. Gun specifications are attached to some of the charges.
Defense attorney Ty Graham represented Newman during his arraignment in Stark County Common Pleas Court conducted by Magistrate Gretchen Stocker.
Immediately before the alleged murder attempt on Dec. 18, Newman and a female accomplice had been detained on suspicion of shoplifting from the store at 3200 Atlantic Blvd.
Police video shows Newman taking out a hidden gun, pointing it at patrolman P.J. Johnson and pulling the trigger. The gun did not discharge for reasons that are unclear.
Newman was then tackled by Walmart loss prevention associate Conrad Piero and Johnson.
The female accomplice was sentenced for theft in Canton Municipal Court.
The next scheduled court date in Newman’s case is a pretrial conference on March 5. The case is assigned to Judge Kristin G. Farmer.
Newman appeared in court Feb. 20 for his arraignment by video link from the Stark County Jail, where he is being held on a $1 million bond.
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County man in viral Walmart video pleads not guilty to charges
Reporting by Nancy Molnar, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
