MERCER COUNTY Man gets prison in stabbing case

Witnesses said the man cut two men with a beer bottle during a picnic.
MERCER -- A Hermitage man will serve four to 15 years in prison for stabbing two picnickers last September.
Alexander Yankevich, 45, of Kossuth Street, was given the term by Judge Thomas Dobson in Common Pleas Court on Friday. He was given credit for 328 days served.
Yankevich was convicted by trial in June of four counts of felony aggravated assault and two counts of misdemeanor assault. He stabbed Isaac Friday and Donald Shurbutt with a broken beer bottle at the Fraternal Order of Police Range on North Water Avenue, Hermitage, last Sept. 15.
Witnesses at the time said Yankevich was walking past a picnic at the grounds when someone invited him to come and eat. However, when picnickers told him he could not take large quantities of leftovers home, he grabbed a beer bottle, broke it and severely cut the two men.
Others sentenced
Also sentenced in court Friday were:
UA Hermitage couple apprehended for growing marijuana in their home. Ronald Guthrie, 37, of Cohasset Drive, was sentenced to six to 18 months of house arrest for possession with intent after being caught with nearly 5.5 ounces of marijuana. He will be electrically monitored so that he may remain employed. His wife, Brenda Guthrie, 39, of the same address, was fined $250 for possessing drug paraphernalia.
URichard Caffie, 39, of Addison Avenue, Masury, was sentenced to two to 18 months in jail and fined $25 for unauthorized use of a vehicle and driving without a license. He was also given credit for 63 days served. In March, Caffie twice went to an address on Park Street, Mercer, and used a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner, according to the criminal information.
UJerod Cullers, 22, of Leesburg-Grove City Road, Mercer, was sentenced to nine to 18 months and ordered to pay $282 restitution for theft by unlawful taking. Police reports state he took a cell phone from a parked vehicle last November.
UJohn Straight, 31, of Grant Street, Sharon, was sentenced to two to eight years in prison for felony burglary. According to the criminal information, he kicked in the front door of a residence on North Oakland Avenue, Sharon, then, once inside, assaulted David DeVito. He was given 182 days credit for time served.
UKeith Hicks, 35, also known as Eric Jackson, of Chester Lane, Boardman, Ohio, was placed on 18 months' probation and ordered to make an unspecified amount of restitution for attempted theft by deception, a misdemeanor. According to the criminal information, he bought more than $700 worth of items in Hermitage stores by forging stolen checks and also possessed a stolen driver's license.