A Warsaw man has been arrested and charged with running down another man in a vehicle in an alley Wednesday evening.
John Ciaccia, 32, of 1964 N. Brook Blvd., faces a preliminary charge of Class B felony aggravated battery, accused of running down 19-year-old Austin Krygowski with a Ford Taurus in the alley behind the 700 block of East Main Street.
According to a Warsaw Police incident report, around 6 p.m. Wednesday, off-duty Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Jeff Howie was taking out his trash at his home when he witnessed Ciaccia’s gold sedan accelerate toward Krygowski as he stood in the alley, running the man over with its right front tire before crashing into an embankment, according to Warsaw Police Department Officer Chris Anderson’s incident report. Howie placed Ciaccia under arrest at the scene.
Pressed for explanation, Ciaccia told Anderson in an interview at the police headquarters that he was afraid Krygowski was going to assault him, though Ciaccia was inside the vehicle and Krygowski was not threatening him and had no weapons, the report said.
Ciaccia admitted to Anderson during the interview that he ran Krygowski over, and said “it was the wrong thing to do, but that he was unsure what he had done,” Anderson wrote in the report.
Ciaccia had borrowed the vehicle, the report said.
A woman who witnessed the alleged run-down told police that she had previously dated Ciaccia but had recently broken up with him. That woman, who is the mother of Krygowski’s child, told police that Krygowski heard her and Ciaccia arguing as she and Krygowski were on the phone together, and Krygowski walked down the road to check the well-being of the woman, the report said. The woman said Ciaccia then got into the Taurus and watched him run Krygowski over, the report said.
Krygowski’s mother told the Times-Union that the proescutor’s office is reviewing the case and could upgrade the aggravated battery charge to an attempted murder charge, though the Times-Union could not confirm that.
Ciaccia was booked into Kosciusko County Jail with no bond.
