Drug arrest

Drug arrest
YOUNGSTOWN -- City police arrested a 49-year-old Wick Avenue man for possession of drug paraphernalia after finding a crack pipe in his coat pocket during a motor vehicle stop. The pipe was found during a search of the man after police arrested him on a charge of consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
Residents on alert
GIRARD -- Mayor James Melfi today issued an alert to residents that they should be on the lookout for a catlike animal.
The mayor said the unidentified animal has been spotted recently on Patricia Drive and Shannon Road.
The latest sighting was this weekend on Shannon.
If such an animal is spotted, police should be called.
Theft reported
BOARDMAN -- A worker at the Sparkle Market, 4121 South Ave., discovered at 8 a.m. Sunday that two Vindicator vending machines had been stolen from the sidewalk in front of the store. The worker told police the machines were in place at 9 p.m. Saturday. The machines were valued at $1,000.
Kidnappings reported
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two city teen-agers reported that they were kidnapped by men with weapons as they walked along Oak Street near Early Road sometime between 3 and 3:45 a.m. Saturday, police reports show. An 18-year-old woman told police she was walking with a 19-year-old when a car pulled up and someone inside asked if they needed a ride. Two males jumped out, hit her in the head with what may have been an aluminum baseball bat, forced her into the car and took her to an unknown location, she told police. The other woman said she also was forced into the car and taken to an unknown location.
A police report shows that the younger woman had contusions on her face, head and hands and burns on her feet and hands. It shows that blunt objects, a gun and possibly a hot coat hanger were used as weapons. Police said the women may have attended a party in the area. Officers were called to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where both women were treated, about six hours after the attack to take the reports.
Threatens to shoot
AUSTINTOWN -- A North Four Mile Run Road man told police his neighbor threatened to shoot him after accusing him of trying to steal the tires from the neighbor's car.
The man said his neighbor knocked on his door around 11:30 a.m. Sunday and accused him of the attempted theft. The neighbor then threatened to shoot the man if he went by the car.
The neighbor also said that he did not care if he went back to jail as a result of the shooting, according to the man.
The neighbor had called police around 4 a.m. and said he found a man kneeling near his car. The man ran when he approached the car, the neighbor said.
Masked man at door
AUSTINTOWN -- A New Road woman told police a masked man acted as if he were masturbating while standing at her back door last week. The woman said the man, who wore a ski mask and was dressed in dark clothing, was looking into her door window. He ran away when she got near the door.