Traficant is moved; suit seeks election

Traficant is moved;suit seeks election
AKRON -- James A. Traficant Jr. was moved this morning from the Summit County jail by U.S. marshals, said Capt. Claude McCutcheon at the jail.
Traficant, who began serving an eight-year prison sentence July 30 on racketeering and tax convictions, will be temporarily house in a federal prison until the Bureau of Prisons finds a permanent facility for him.
His temporary location was not released. McCutcheon said the marshals collected Traficant and his belongings about 8:15 a.m.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation said it would file a suit in federal court in Columbus today, asking that Gov. Bob Taft be ordered to call a special election to fill the Traficant's vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was expelled July 24.
Both the U.S. Constitution and the Ohio Constitution mandate a special election, the ACLU said in a press release. Taft has said no special election would be called. The 17th-District seat has four contenders for the November general election, including Traficant running as an independent.
Man dies from gunshot
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dwayne A. Thurston, 19, of Linden Avenue died from a gunshot wound to the head about 10:15 p.m. Sunday on the sidewalk between Hammaker Street and Stansbury Drive. The death was not listed as homicide or suicide. A determination was expected from the Mahoning County coroner.
No weapon was found by the body. A witness who heard one gunshot called 911. Thurston had been visiting an apartment on Hammaker, reports show.
Breaking and entering
YOUNGSTOWN -- Terry's Furniture on Market Street wasn't open at 3:45 a.m. today when Lashonda D. Shavers decided to shop there for her new apartment, police said.
Officers say the 24-year-old Bissell Avenue woman was climbing out of a broken window after dropping a fake plant to the ground. Shavers told police that two people who ran had been stashing goods behind the store at 720 Market.
Police found six lamps and a mirror behind the store and collected the items as evidence of the break-in. Shavers was arrested on a charge of breaking and entering.
Shots fired from car
AUSTINTOWN -- Police are investigating a report that someone fired several shots into the air late Saturday night on Laurie Drive. A Laurie Drive resident told police that the shots were fired at about midnight by a passenger in a silver or gray car with a handgun.
The car traveled from Laurie Drive to Lancaster Drive, where several more shots were fired, the woman said. Police found four shell casings on Laurie Drive.
Man suffers beating
AUSTINTOWN -- A Youngstown man told police he was punched and kicked in the face several times by two men early Saturday in a Compass West parking lot.
Jeramiah Long, 27, of Paisley Street, Youngstown, was treated by paramedics. Long told police that the two men struck his car at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Reports do not state what was used to strike the car.
Long said that when he approached the two men, they kicked and punched him.
Improper behavior
AUSTINTOWN -- A 14-year-old girl told police Friday that a Westgate Boulevard man, 27, began to undress her July 26 while she was sitting on the steps of Woodside Elementary School.
The girl said the man has partially undressed her in the past. He tried to kiss her both times, she said.
Police also received a report Friday that a 16-year-old girl was harassed by a 29-year-old Penny Lane man while she was staying at a friend's Woodland Trace home in early July.
She said she woke up on the couch to find the man in a push-up position on top of her asking for the television remote. The girl said that when she told the man she didn't have the remote, he left.
The man has been accused of removing the clothes of teen girls while they slept in the Woodland Trace home.