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Boardman Patrol Officer Evan Beil holds the knife that was recovered after Beil confronted Damian Cessna at the corner of South Avenue and Matthews Road in Boardman around 1 a.m. on July 13, 2021. Beil said Cessna lunged at Beil and held the knife high in Beil's direction. Beil fired 11 shots at Cessna, hitting Cessna multiple times.

YOUNGSTOWN – Boardman police Officer Evan Beil told jurors Wednesday at the start of the aggravated assault trial in the Damian Cessna case that Cessna attacked Beil with a knife on July 13, 2021, shortly before Beil fired his gun at Cessna, hitting him multiple times.

When asked whether the 27-year-old Cessna appeared to have suffered from mental health problems before the attack on him, Beil said: “It didn't seem so.”

The trial will continue this morning before Judge Maureen Sweeney of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Beil, who has been an officer in Boardman for nearly 10 years, testified that after the Cessna charged toward him with the knife pointed at him, he “backed off. And when I saw him keep coming toward me, I started firing my weapon.”

Beil had earlier stopped Cessna, who was riding his bike on the wrong side of the road in the dark without lights. Beil was concerned that he might get hurt, as other cyclists in Boardman had recently done, and that Cessna had committed traffic violations. Cessna also had a baseball bat with him, Beil said.

Beil tried to explain to Cessna that he was concerned for Cessna's safety, but Cessna cursed at Beil. When Beil asked him to do so, Cessna put down the baseball bat. But Cessna refused when Beil asked Cessna to take a knife from a sheath on Cessna's belt and throw it away.

Beil said he pulled out his gun at that moment and pointed it at Cessna. “I intended to make an arrest for obstruction of justice,” Beil said.

Beil had a stun gun, baton and pepper spray with him, but when the Cessna came at him, he didn't feel safe enough to use any of those options because of his experience. He had used those items in the past, and they weren't always effective, he said.

“And the fact that he had a knife and came at me, based on my training, meant that after two cuts with that knife, you might not be able to use your hands and that no matter how many tools you have on your belt, you won't be able to use any of them,” Beil said.

Cessna raised the knife with his elbow bent to about head height and walked toward Beil, the officer said.

When asked if Beil feared for his life, he said: “I was 100 percent afraid for my life.”

He fired eleven times at Cessna and stopped when Cessna collapsed on the road and went into the fetal position.

“At first I fired maybe five or six shots, not rapid fire. There was a short pause between each shot because I wanted to make sure I hit the target but didn't knock it down. So there was a short pause. I wanted to make sure I had a good grip on the gun,” he said. Then he fired five or six more times.

“He eventually fell to the ground, so I stopped shooting,” Beil said. Beil fired 11 times in three or four seconds — from the moment Cessna started charging at him until Cessna went down, Beil said. The officer was standing between his patrol car and the curb, about 15 feet from Cessna, who was also in the street.

Beil said that after the shooting, he radioed that shots had been fired and then got latex gloves from his car and administered first aid because Cessna had a “sucking” chest wound. Beil placed his hands on Cessna's front and back to “seal” the wounds and help Cessna breathe.

He said Cessna said, “You shot me in the hand. I can't breathe. I'm sorry.”

Beil found two more knives in Cessna's bag and threw them away. When other emergency responders arrived, Beil was taken away from the scene. Beil was placed on administrative leave for 10 to 13 days, as required, he said. The investigation by Boardman police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation cleared Beil of any wrongdoing, Beil said.

In his opening statements, Cessna's attorney, Mark Lavelle, said Cessna had never held a job “because he suffered from one or more mental and emotional disorders throughout his life.” He was neither insane nor “not legally competent to stand trial.” When he was old enough to make his own decisions, he stopped taking medication and tried to “deal with his problems holistically,” Lavelle said.

He said Cessna, who was living in Boardman at the time, would distract himself or calm himself down from the stresses of his life by taking late-night walks and bike rides “so he wouldn't run into anyone,” Lavelle said, and that it helped him sleep.

He said that when Beil stopped Cessna, it said: “I didn't do anything wrong. I just want to go home.”

When Beil told Cessna to throw away the knife, she said, “I'm scared.” Cessna pulled out the knife and “almost immediately” the shots began.

While cross-examining Beil, Lavelle focused on photographs later taken of the crime scene and questioned Beil's testimony that the Cessna traveled more than halfway — about 8 to 10 feet — toward Beil before it crashed. Lavelle said the blood stain on the road, the photographs, and Beil's testimony indicated that the Cessna traveled no more than about 4 feet before it crashed.

If Cessna is convicted of grievous bodily harm against Beil, he faces around eight years in prison. Beil was not injured.

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