AUSTINTOWN Toddler wanders onto road, almost gets struck by car

The theft of newspaper vending machines continued in the township.
AUSTINTOWN -- A 2-year-old girl wandered into the middle of North Raccoon Road and stopped traffic Thursday afternoon, witnesses told police.
One witness said that at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, she saw a man in the middle of the road holding the child. The man said he had almost struck the child with his car.
The witness then took the girl to her mother.
Another witness said she heard tires screeching and people yelling, and looked outside to find the girl in the street crying.
The mother, 22, of North Raccoon Road, told police that at the time she was helping another woman carry items to her car. She said that when she returned to her apartment, her daughter was gone.
Some of the mother's neighbors told police the child also had been in the road five or six times in the past.
The township's juvenile detective division is investigating the report, and county children's services has been contacted.
Stolen vending machines: Another Vindicator newspaper vending machine has been stolen from the front of a Mahoning Avenue business.
The machine was taken between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday from in front of Scacchetti's On The Go, at 3781 Mahoning Ave.
More than 50 newspaper vending machines have been stolen from local businesses during the last few months. The machines are each worth around $600.
Many of the thefts occurred from businesses on U.S. Route 224 in Boardman and Mahoning Avenue in Austintown.
A Poland man has been arrested and charged with some of the thefts.