Children services case

Children services case
AUSTINTOWN -- Two children, 11- and 8-year-old siblings, showed up on the doorstep of a township home around 3:30 a.m. Sunday and told the resident they left their Meridian Road home to escape ongoing verbal and physical abuse inflicted by their grandmother, who has custody.
The Woodland Trace resident contacted police. The grandmother told police she was unaware the children had left. Police notified Mahoning County Children Services.
Mugging reported
AUSTINTOWN -- A 69-year-old Youngstown woman was mugged outside J.C. Penney's Austintown Plaza store around 1 p.m. Saturday.
The woman, who uses a cane, was walking along the sidewalk on the south side of the department store when a car stopped in the fire lane.
Police said the suspect, a white male between 25 and 35 years old, snatched her purse and knocked her to the ground. The victim injured her head, right hand and left knee in the fall.
A witness tried to follow the suspect but lost him around the rear of the building, police said.
Dog owner charged
AUSTINTOWN -- The owner of a pit bull will appear in court at 1 p.m. next Monday to answer charges that he failed to confine his dog, to have proper insurance and to have a dog license.
The charges came after the dog broke its chain around 4:30 p.m. Sunday and escaped from its kennel at the owner's Turner Road home. The dog chased a 5-year-old neighbor and her uncle, leaping over a 4-foot fence that enclosed the child's back yard.
Fire damages home
YOUNGSTOWN -- Firefighters think a wiring fault caused a fire at 3:09 a.m. today that caused $15,000 in loss to the home of John Vivo at 724 E. Boston Ave. Vivo was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment for heightened blood pressure.
Firefighters aren't sure of the cause of a blaze that caused $9,000 in damage to the garage of Janet Almasy at 2340 Ridgelawn Ave. at 10:53 p.m. Saturday.
Body found
YOUNGSTOWN -- The body of a man who police say went to buy heroin was found on a porch on the 400 block of Clyde Street about 4:10 a.m. Sunday.
Police said the body of Jeffrey Perkins, 42, of Wirt Street, had been dragged onto the porch. A passer-by notified police. A person who knew Perkins said he was last seen around 6:30 p.m. Saturday on his way to make the purchase.
Crash investigation
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police are investigating a driver who crashed into their substation in Boardman, and then fled down Market Street before the chase ended at Wick and Lincoln avenues about 7 a.m. today.
Police said the male motorist would be taken for medical treatment after complaining of chest pains.
Drug charges
SHARON, Pa. -- Police said an Austintown man who appeared to be intoxicated was charged with drug possession after officers found suspected crack cocaine in his possession on East State Street at the Shenango River around 2 a.m. Saturday.
Michael A. Howard, 33, of Bryant Drive was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and public drunkenness, and is lodged in the Shenango Valley Regional Lock-Up in Farrell to await arraignment. While there, he tried to hang himself in a jail cell, using his shirt as a noose, police said.
Police said they had to subdue him with chemical Mace and took him to UPMC Horizon for treatment. Police said he became unruly at the hospital and was charged with disorderly conduct.
He was arraigned before District Justice Ruth French on all charges and remained in Mercer County Jail today on $5,000 bond.
Girard Farmers Market
GIRARD -- The Greater Girard Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the Girard Farmers Market each Saturday in August.
Local farmers will sell summer produce from 8 a.m. to noon in front of the old Wellman Theater at 29 West Liberty Street downtown.
The produce includes tomatoes, peppers, onions, Swiss chard, corn, blueberries, peaches, eggplant and other fruits and vegetables.