COITSVILLE Owner charged with dogs on loose

A woman and her daughter reported being menaced.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
COITSVILLE -- A neighborhood terrorized by 11 mixed-breed adult dogs has some relief today.
Allan P. Morris, assistant police chief, arrested 49-year-old Linda G. Simmons at her Bedford Road home about 6 p.m. Wednesday after confronting what he described as growling, barking dogs running wild. All were without licenses.
Simmons posted $525 bond last night at the Mahoning County jail.
Campbell Law Director Brian J. Macala said this morning he filed seven counts of allowing dogs to run loose and 11 counts of failing to register dogs against Simmons in Campbell Municipal Court.
"We're are also considering charges of keeping dangerous dogs," Macala said. Simmons has three convictions of allowing dogs to run loose, he said. She is to be arraigned Friday.
"The neighborhood is terrorized by her dogs. We get a lot of complaints. She pushed us too far," Morris said. "The neighbors can't walk by her house. They're fed up."
He called it a quality-of-life issue.
"People shouldn't be prisoners in their house because of dogs. When it's cold, she keeps them all inside, but it was warm yesterday, so they were out," he said.
At Morris' request, a Mahoning County deputy dog warden took the adult dogs and six puppies from Simmons' home, described by the officer as extremely dirty, with puppy food on the floor. The older dogs had been fed spaghetti and a hamburger mix.
What occurred: Police confronted Simmons after two of her neighbors, a women and her 7-year-old daughter, reported being attacked by two of Simmons' dogs Wednesday evening. The woman and daughter were walking their dog on Bedford Road at the time.
When Morris arrived to interview the woman and child, three of Simmons' dogs charged and he couldn't get out of his cruiser. He beeped the car horn and the woman's husband came outside, which diverted the dogs' attention.
The distraction allowed Morris to get out of the car and avoid the dogs by weaving his way around vehicles in the driveway. Once inside, Morris learned that the woman had fallen and bruised her knees in the Wednesday confrontation.
What happened next: When Campbell Sgt. Gus Nicolaou arrived to assist Morris, three of Simmons' dogs barked viciously, police said. The officers pointed a shotgun at the animals to keep them at bay.
As Morris and Nicolaou entered Simmons' yard, more menacing dogs appeared, they said. Morris yelled to Simmons, asking her to come outside.
She acknowledged owning the dogs and said the animals had done nothing wrong. Morris said Simmons told him the neighbors should stay inside when her dogs are loose.
It took her more than an hour to round up her own dogs, Morris said.