Theft from house

Theft from house
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- City police said they think two women kept an elderly area resident occupied in her Terrace Avenue home for 30 minutes while a third woman stole $900 from a dresser drawer. Police said the victim told them two women came to her door Saturday afternoon and said they were selling handmade quilts and perfume. The victim told police she refused to let the women in, but they were insistent. She said one woman told her she knew her because her grandmother used to live across the street from her. The victim told police she saw only two women, but her neighbor said he saw a third woman going into the home through a back door. The victim said she later discovered the money was missing from the dresser, which was in a downstairs bedroom. The victim said one of the women at the door was tall, thin and had a dark complexion, and the other was shorter, heavier with a lighter complexion. She said both women spoke broken English.
Handgun stolen
SHARON, Pa. -- Police said someone stole an unloaded handgun from the glove box of an unlocked car in the driveway of a home in the 300 block of Independence Court. The theft occurred between 11 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Ammunition for the .380-caliber semiautomatic was left behind, police said. The gun is a Bryco Arms model.
Reward offered
OIL CITY, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to the arrest of the man who robbed the Northwest Savings Bank here June 22. The robber is described as a white man about 50 years old. He is 6 feet tall, has a thin build and his hair is short, dark brown or black and thinning. He wore a blue sport coat, light blue pants and a light-colored shirt and was wearing glasses. He entered the bank around 7:20 p.m., brandished a handgun and demanded and got money from a teller. Call Crime Stoppers at (800) 472-8477.
Counterfeit bill
SHARON, Pa. -- Police said a counterfeit $20 bill used at a newsstand in Sharon was traced back to a gas station in Brookfield. A man used the bill to make a purchase at the Korner News Stand at 54 W. State St. around 9 a.m. Monday, and the clerk thought the bill was suspicious. Police were called and determined that it was a phony bill. The man who spent it is a resident of a group home in Sharon and had been given the $20 bill as an allowance, police said. Police checked with the home supervisors and learned they had gotten the bill at a gas station on U.S. Route 62 in Brookfield.
Charged in sex assault
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- City police have charged an area man with three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, sexual assault, unlawful restraint and corruption of minors. Police said Leonard Pounds, 18, Quarry Road, New Castle, forced a 12-year-old city girl into his truck Friday, took her to a wooded area off Moravia Street and forced her to perform oral sex.
New zoning inspector
CRAIG BEACH -- Village council here has appointed Andrew "Corky" Peregrin to serve as village zoning inspector beginning next week.
Peregrin will replace Mayor Camille Gaia III, who has served as zoning inspector since January 2000. Some council members have said they think it is illegal to serve as both mayor and zoning inspector.
In addition, some council members have said they think Gaia has not been fulfilling his duties as zoning inspector.
The village's last zoning inspector was laid off with other village employees when council repealed a 1-percent income tax in 1998. Council is planning to place a 1-percent income tax on the ballot in the village this November.
Car crashes into bar
YOUNGSTOWN -- After the car she was driving crashed into Irish Bob's at 3602 South Ave., 19-year-old Isabelle Flowers of New York City told police she's never had a driver's license. The accident at the South Side bar at 9:15 p.m. Monday resulted in the arrest of Flowers and a front-seat passenger who police said obstructed their investigation. The passenger, a 30-year-old West Lucius Avenue woman, said another car cutting them off caused the crash.
Police said when they tried to talk to Flowers, the passenger blocked their way, telling Flowers what to say.