Sentenced in assault

Sentenced in assault
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 23-year-old West Side man has been ordered to serve 60 days of a 180-day jail term for assaulting an off-duty deputy at Ernie McDoogell's bar.
Donald Kerens Jr., of South Portland Ave., was sentenced in municipal court Friday on the misdemeanor assault charge. Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. ordered Kerens to serve two years' probation and pay a $100 fine and restitution.
Witnesses told police that John Tatarka, 23, of Austintown, a Trumbull County deputy sheriff, was punched and hit with a beer bottle Nov. 22 in the West Rayen Avenue bar on the city's North Side.
Co-defendant Edward Kraft, 24, of Garden Valley Drive in Boardman, was sentenced last month on the same charge. Kraft was a bouncer at the bar, which is now closed.
Guilty in shooting
WARREN -- A 24-year-old Willow Street S.W. man convicted of six counts of felonious assault is to be sentenced Tuesday.
A Trumbull County Common Pleas jury deliberated two hours Friday before returning the verdict. The jury began hearing the case Wednesday.
Victor Brown could receive up to 48 years in prison.
Police said Brown shot from a car at six people who were standing outside The Drink, state Route 46 in Niles, on Aug. 26, 2000.
Accused of embezzling
STRUTHERS -- A 31-year-old woman is accused of embezzling between $700 and $800 from the doctor's office where she worked.
About $50 was discovered missing from Dr. David Lockshaw's office at 296 E. Manor Ave., in September 2001, police reports state. The doctor thought the money had been misplaced, then several patients started complaining that payments they made had not been applied to their accounts.
After a personnel meeting where the issue was discussed, the woman left a note stating that she would try to pay the money back. So far, she has neither paid the money nor presented a plan for repayment.
Promoted to detective
LEETONIA -- Part-time patrolman John Finch is now a part-time detective.
With responsibilities of the police chief and patrolmen increasing steadily in recent years, Police Chief John Soldano and Sgt. Rick Datillio said it would help their caseloads to have a patrolman serve as detective.
Finch, with eight years as a Leetonia patrolman, is the best candidate for the position, Soldano said.
Soldano said Finch will make $9.92 per hour, the same rate he was earning as a patrolman. After a probationary period, he will likely make $10 per hour or more.
Borrowing for firetruck
SHARON, Pa. -- City council will borrow $291,980 to complete the financing of a new ladder truck for the fire department.
The city will borrow the money from National City Bank for five years at an annual interest rate of 4.12 percent. The remainder of the $519,980 purchase price will come from federal Community Development Block Grant money.
Rape investigation
SHARON, Pa. -- Police are investigating the reported abduction and rape of a 21-year-old city woman.
Police said the woman told them she left a North Water Avenue bar around 1 a.m. Wednesday and was walking on Water Avenue near Madison Street when a van pulled up and a man pulled her inside.
She told police she was blindfolded and driven to a house where she was sexually assaulted by two men. She remained blindfolded the entire time and the men never spoke, she said.
She was put back into a vehicle and dropped off at a location she didn't recognize, she said, adding that she began walking and eventually ended up at Sharon Regional Health System around 5 a.m.
Weapon charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 26-year-old South Side man has been arraigned in municipal court on charges that he fired a sawed-off shotgun into the School Street home of his ex-girlfriend.
Adrian Gordon, of Parkcliff Avenue, appeared Friday on a felony charge of discharging into a habitation and two felony weapons counts.
Judge Robert P. Milich ordered bonds totaling $30,000 and appointed an attorney to the case. He also set a $1,000 bond on an unrelated misdemeanor assault case. Gordon pleaded innocent to that charge. He entered no pleas to the felonies.
Gordon is accused of going to the woman's home about 1:30 a.m. Thursday. When asked to leave, he fired at the house and fled in a vehicle driven by another man, police reports show. He was arrested on Clearmount Drive after a short chase during which police said they saw him throw the shotgun out a car window.
Also arrested was the driver of the car, 34, of Liberty Road, on charges of complicity to shooting into a habitation, police said. He also faces a charge of driving under suspension. He is scheduled for arraignment Monday.