Suspect in Acton fair scuffle declines plea deal

Local News Suspect in Acton fair scuffle declines plea deal By DAVID SKOLNICK November 10, 2026 3 min read Staff photo / David Skolnick Patrick Havas, right, sits during a Tuesday pretrial hearing while his attorney J. Gerald Ingram reviews paperwork. Havas faces four misdemeanors after he allegedly lunged at Gov.-elect Amy Acton at the Canfield Fair on Sept. 6. Trending CANFIELD - The man accused of lunging at Gov.-elect Amy Acton during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair declined a plea deal. During a brief Tuesday pretrial court hearing, Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro disclosed that a deal was offered Nov. 3 and J. Gerald Ingram, lawyer for Patrick Havas, the suspect facing four misdemeanor charges, declined to accept it. The details of the deal were not provided. A final pretrial is Dec. 22 with a Jan. 4 jury trial. During Tuesday's hearing, Ingram asked that the Dec. 22 pretrial not be canceled. Havas, 38, of Canfield, faces two counts of assault and one count each of inducing panic and disorderly conduct - related to the Sept. 6 occurrence at the Mahoning County Democratic Party tent at the Canfield Fair. County Area Court Judge Molly K. Johnson ruled Oct. 22 in favor of a motion filed by Ingram to exclude the evidence that the suspect possessed two .22-caliber handguns and a pair of taser brass knuckles during the time of his arrest. Having the weapons on him is key to the inducing panic charge. At Tuesday's hearing, Maro said she offered Ingram the option to cancel the Dec. 22 pretrial, which is to be the last one before the Jan. 4 trial. Ingram declined the offer and said Tuesday he wants that final pretrial. Johnson asked the attorneys to submit witness lists to each other and at the Dec. 22 pretrial, an estimated time for the length of the trial will be determined. Johnson ruled Oct. 22 that because no weapons were brandished or removed from their holsters by Havas and only one witness claimed to see Havas with a firearm after he was taken from the tent, that evidence couldn't be used at trial. Twelve witnesses in addition to two Ohio State Highway Patrol officers and a Canfield police officer provided statements. Maro had argued that a witness may have panicked after seeing a holstered weapon. In her decision, Johnson wrote: "While this argument may hold water in other parts of the country or the world, Ohio is an open carry state. The mere sight of a small, holstered handgun - particularly at a rural agricultural function - does not automatically induce panic in the state of Ohio." Havas was walking towards Acton when two state patrol officers perceived him as a threat and confronted him. As that was happening, two people in the tent were knocked to the ground, receiving treatment from nurses at the fair and not taken to the hospital, according to Johnson's Oct. 22 decision. Havas' charges are related only to injuries to the two people in the crowd and that he allegedly caused a panic. While Havas allegedly pushed his way towards Acton to get to her, Maro said he never had any contact with Acton and "never gets near her." Acton was "a victim of the inducing panic charge," Maro previously said.