Suspect in fishing scandal faces more legal woes
In a Facebook image, Hermitage resident Chase Cominsky, left, and Jake Runyan hold up their haul after the Lake Erie Walleye Trail championship event. Moments later, the two men were accused of packing their fish with weights.
Yough Lake News
HERMITAGE – A Hermitage man accused of cheating in a fishing tournament by putting weights in fish is facing more legal difficulties, this time involving the passing of fake currency in a bowling alley.
Chase Elliott Cominsky, 36, was charged Monday along with his son, Kayden Cominsky, 18, both of 840 N. Keel Ridge Road, Hermitage, with conspiracy to commit forgery and with related charges after employees said they passed fake $100 bills in Ten Pin Alley, 3825 E. State St., Hermitage.
Kayden was charged with forgery, trademark counterfeiting and theft by deception, and both men were charged with conspiracy to commit those crimes in a criminal complaint filed with District Judge Mary Ann Odem, Farrell.
Video surveillance from Jan. 20 shows a $100 bill with “For Motion Picture Purposes Only,” “Not Legal Tender,” and several other writings on it showing the bill was fictitious, being passed by Kayden for $56 worth of services. Kayden was given $44 in change.
Such fake currency is produced legally for use as props and commonly known as “movie money.” The images vary slightly from real bills, and markings and text identify it as fake.
In an interview with police, Kayden, a high school senior, told police that he gave one of his friends $100 to pay for bowling and then paid with another $100 bill when his time ran out.
Kayden denied knowing the bills were fraudulent and said he received the bills a couple of weeks ago when he sold his PlayStation to someone in Akron, Ohio.
A witness told police that Kayden said the $100 bill was fake and that his dad gave it to him. Police also found text messages between father and son that discussed how “it worked” with the $100 bills.
Chase was also charged in October with stalking and harassment after Jefferson Township police said he harassed a woman through text messages and hazardous driving.
On Oct. 17 just before 1 p.m., police said in a criminal complaint, the woman reported she was driving to her home in Jefferson Township when Chase sent her a harassing text message. Shortly after the text, the woman told police that Chase began following her, at times traveling dangerously close to the rear of the woman’s vehicle.
After the woman arrived at her home, police said Chase tried to speak with her and asked her to get out of her vehicle. The woman, instead, stayed in her vehicle until police arrived.
Later, police said Cominsky continued to send the woman harassing text messages.
The charges filed Monday are the latest legal difficulties Chase faces.
In October, Chase and Jacob Runyan, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, pleaded not guilty of cheating, attempted grand theft and other offenses.
The two men, who were fishing partners, are accused of improperly putting weights and fish fillets in the fish they caught Sept. 30 in a Lake Erie Walleye Trail fishing tournament. Cominsky and Runyan are accused of cheating to win the event’s top prize of about $28,000.
On Oct. 11, authorities from Pennsylvania and Ohio seized Cominsky’s fishing boat in Hermitage. Runyan was charged earlier in the year with domestic violence and unlawful restraint.
In the harassment case, Davis scheduled Cominsky’s preliminary hearing for May 22, and ordered him released on unsecured bond.
In the latest case, a preliminary hearing has not yet been scheduled.
NOTE: All suspects are to be regarded as innocent until proven or adjudicated guilty.
These guys keep kicking out the hits.
