YOUNGSTOWN Beating suspect sought

A neighbor said violent acts are rare in this East Side neighborhood.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police were searching today for a man who beat a 49-year-old woman with a wooden baseball bat before setting a fire in her home, at 33 N. Truesdale Ave.
The woman was letting her dog out about 5 a.m. today when the man overpowered her, said Robert Hian, Youngstown Fire Department battalion chief. She told investigators that she knows the man, who has done yard work for her in the past.
Hian said the man set fire to a pile of clothes in the basement and fled. Damage was contained to the clothing and a small portion of the roof. No arrest had been made this morning.
Ran to neighbor's: The woman ran to the home of a neighbor, who called 911. She was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where she was in stable condition this morning in the emergency room.
No one else was in the home at the time.
Fire officials have not released the woman's name. Karen Collins, who came to the home after the fire, said the home is owned by her sister, who has lived there for about 20 years.
"I'm afraid for my sister," said Collins, who lives on LaClede Avenue on the city's South Side. "She always tried to help people. ... She's just a wonderful person. I can't believe he did this to her."
Collins said her sister suffers from lupus and the man had helped her by doing chores. Collins also said her sister had allowed the man, who has no home, to stay in her basement when she was out of town.
Knows suspect: Neighbor Felix Mitchell said the victim kicked and knocked on his door after the attack, her head covered with gashes. He said he knows the suspect and had always feared that "he wasn't stable" but does not have further fears for the neighborhood.
"The neighborhood is not generally like this at all," he said. "We don't usually have things like this happen."
viviano@vindy.com