LORAIN, Ohio — More than a year since his arrest, 46-year-old Matthew Homolya, the former assistant fire chief in Lorain, learned his fate Friday morning in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.
Homolya was sentenced to serve 90 days in the Lorain County Jail and must pay $4,680.97 in restitution within one year.
“I do believe that you are remorseful for your actions, but I also believe that in this case your conduct was so offensive and absurd that it warrants a period of incarceration," the judge told Homolya while announcing her decision.
The judge also ordered Homolya to report by next Friday, May 12, to begin serving his jail time.
We streamed the full court hearing, which you can watch in the video below:
Court records show Homolya pleaded guilty to amended charges in the case earlier this year, which were in connection with a March 2022 attack involving his neighbor.
The incident, which happened in a driveway on Gore Orphanage Road in Brownhelm Township, was captured on a Ring doorbell camera in which Homolya can be seen slamming a man against a vehicle before wrestling him to the ground. 3News previously reported that the altercation apparently arose when Homolya's dog wandered into the neighbor's yard and was attacked by two German shepherds.
Before sentencing was handed down, an attorney for Homolya said his client is "extremely sorry" for his actions.
“He allowed his emotions to get the best of him," the attorney said. "He made the regrettable decision to walk over to his neighbor’s house being very upset and still worked up from defending his dog."
Homolya also took a moment to address the court.
"This absolutely was the worst decision I’ve ever made," he said. "I continue to regret it to this day, and anticipate that I’ll regret it for the rest of my life."
Homolya said he wanted to apologize "profusely" for his actions that day.
"I’m doing everything that I can to make it better, to be a better person, to show that something like this will never happen again. It should never have happened in the first place – and it will never happen again. So, I’m sorry."
You can watch Homolya's full statement in the video below:
The victim in the case also offered a statement prior to sentencing, which his attorney read to the courtroom. Here's that statement in full:
“Why did this happen? Never in my life would I have ever imagined that I would be attacked by my friend and neighbor or that my dogs would be attacked. No one should have to endure what I went through. Life will never be the same. Not only because of the assault and intrusion on my property, but other problems that have incurred as a result. Matt has made things up to defend himself and told neighbors very mean and hurtful things that are not true about me, causing backlash. This event was a financial burden upon me as well. I have had to spend money to fix my car, get a rental, provide medical treatment for myself and my dogs, hire a new caretaker for the dogs and incur lost wages due to the fact I was injured and had to miss work. The dogs have not been the same since that day. I went from having a nice neighbor and friend that borrowed things from me, had a key and garage door opener to my home, to living next door to a monster. I worry every time I am at home if something else may happen. Life is now awkward for me and my son in the neighborhood. Saying sorry will not fix the rest of my life. To this day, I am still getting nasty looks and being harassed from my neighbors like I did something wrong. The retirement I expected to have at my house will never be the same.”
Homolya resigned from his role as Lorain’s assistant fire chief last summer. He had been placed on administrative leave prior to his resignation.
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE IN THE CASE:
Editor's note: The video in the player above was originally published in a previous story connected to this case on Aug. 20, 2022.