Candidate for Middleburg Heights City Council, Michael Settonni, drops out after domestic dispute with wife
Posted by Joseph L. Wagner, The Plain Dealer September 01 17:15PM PD fileMichael and Nancy Settonni
MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio — A weekend dispute between Michael Settonni, former TV newsman and a candidate for City Council, and his wife, Nancy, ended with her being charged with domestic violence and him being hospitalized for what police said was an apparent suicide attempt.
According to police reports, the pair first argued Friday when Nancy Settonni confronted her husband about text messages she learned he had sent to another woman.
He admitted to her that he had "more than a friendly relationship" with the other woman, according to the report.
Saturday morning, police reported, she woke him, talked of telling his family and associates about the affair, and threatened to burn the house down with him in it.
Michael Settonni reported she then began hitting him with a stick.
He told police his wife burned several of his suits and tuxedos in the garage, broke his golf clubs and watches, and shredded his cigars.
He told police he would file charges against her, and she was arrested during a traffic stop, police said. Later, police and EMS personnel were summoned to the couple's home on Big Creek Parkway where police said he apparently attempted suicide. He was taken to Southwest General Health Center.
Middleburg Heights Police Chief John Maddox said Michael Settonni is not facing charges.
Contacted by phone Tuesday, Settonni thanked a reporter for the call and hung up.
Later, in an e-mail, he said: "We are working through a very personal and difficult time and ask you [to] respect our privacy."
In a subsequent e-mail, Settonni said he will withdraw from the Middleburg Heights council race.
Nancy Settonni said by telephone that she was "sick" over the incident but otherwise would not comment.
Settonni, an Emmy award-winning journalist at WEWS Channel 5, founded Broadcast Media Ideas, a video production firm, in 1999.
He is connected politically to numerous public officials, including Cuyahoga County commissioners who have awarded him several video production contracts.
He has worked as a video consultant for the Berea Municipal Court and produced political campaign commercials for the court's clerk, Ray Wohl.
Nancy Settonni was arraigned Monday in the Berea court, pleading not guilty to a domestic violence charge. On Tuesday, Wohl said the judge is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to reassign the case to another district or to a visiting judge to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
0 comments