Sunday, August 12, 2001
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A dispute over a woman's firing from a Mahoning Avenue discount store sent two area men to the hospital.
Police were sent to the Village Discount Store in Mahoning Plaza just after 9 p.m. Friday to investigate a possible fight. Officers found Vyacheslav Rozenberg, 26, face down on the front seat of a green Pontiac Bonneville parked in front of the store.
Rozenberg had been stabbed once in the abdomen but was still able to give police an account of what led to the stabbing.
A police report says Rozenberg went to the store to confront the manager, German "Orlando" Osorto, no age or address given, about firing Rozenberg's girlfriend earlier that day. Rozenberg wanted to step outside and speak to Osorto in private, the report says.
When Osorto refused to go outside, Rozenberg put his hand on Osorto's chest and asked why he had touched Rozenberg's girlfriend in the past, police said. Osorto responded by slapping Rozenberg twice in the face.
A short scuffle followed, with both men punching each other several times. Police said that eventually Rozenberg ran out of the store with Osorto, armed with a knife, chasing him across the parking lot.
Reports say Osorto eventually stopped chasing the man, got into a red Toyota Celica and left the area. When the chase was over Rozenberg realized he had been stabbed in the abdomen during the fight. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Rozenberg was not the only person injured in the confrontation, reports say: Officers found Osorto sitting in the hospital waiting area. He had suffered a broken jaw.
Police questioned Osorto, who said he pulled the knife to defend himself against Rozenberg.
Nobody was arrested.
Rozenberg was listed in stable condition Saturday night. Hospital personnel had no information on Osorto.