Woman chases thief

Woman chases thief
YOUNGSTOWN -- A young West Side woman who left the BW-3 restaurant downtown around 12:30 a.m. today had her purse snatched as she approached the passenger side of her friend's car, reports show. The suspect, a man in his 20s wearing jeans and a black hood, ran to a car and drove off. The 20-year-old Oregon Avenue woman and her friend chased the car north on Fifth Avenue and east on Wood Street to the Choffin Career Center parking lot. At that point, the robber threw the purse out a car window. The woman retrieved her purse then realized the wallet was missing so she and her friend continued to chase the robber, who headed east on Rayen Avenue. A short time later, the man threw the wallet out of the car. The victim retrieved her wallet, which still had money inside. The suspect was last seen driving on Interstate 80. His license plate is registered to an Austintown woman.
Purse snatcher sought
BOARDMAN -- Township police are looking for a man who snatched a woman's purse, car keys and cash out of her vehicle Tuesday afternoon. Police reports say a 56-year-old Poland woman pulled into a self-serve car wash on Midlothian Boulevard just before 3 p.m. After paying for the wash, the woman got back into her car. A man then opened the car's passenger-side door and took her keys and her purse that contained more than $300. Officers drove the woman around but the man was not found.
Fictitious plates
YOUNGSTOWN -- When Patrolman Carlos Rivera couldn't make out the expiration date on the license plate of the 1989 light blue truck he spotted Tuesday night, he checked the plate number with the index operator downtown. The Chevrolet Cheyenne turned out to be stolen and owned by the city. Rivera pulled the truck over at 9 p.m. on Madison Avenue. The driver, Haspen Leggett, 49, of Youngstown-Warren Road, Niles, said the truck was his and the plates were his wife's, reports show. Leggette was issued a citation for fictitious plates, and the truck was towed with a hold on it for the auto theft division.
Elias trial is reset
YOUNGSTOWN -- Trial has been reset for Canfield accountant Robert F. Elias, who is accused of cheating on his taxes and helping Richard D. Goldberg, an imprisoned and disbarred malpractice attorney, underreport his income by nearly $3 million. At a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus granted a defense motion and reset the Dec. 23 trial to April 14. Elias, 58, was indicted in August on three counts of tax evasion, willful failure to file tax returns and three counts of aiding in the preparation of false returns (1995-1997) for Goldberg.
Rink hearing canceled
YOUNGSTOWN -- A public hearing scheduled for Thursday before a city council committee on the closing of the Mill Creek Park ice rink has been canceled. City council's parks and recreation committee called the hearing after Mill Creek MetroParks closed the rink last month because of refrigerant leaks. The rink is located at the James L. Wick Recreation Area off McCollum Road on the city's West Side. Council and Mill Creek officials will talk about the decision before another hearing is set, the council clerk's office said.
Cops learn skills
AUSTINTOWN -- Police Lts. Mark Durkin and Robert Gavalier recently graduated from the Law Enforcement Foundation's Police Executive Leadership College. The college is a three-week course designed to teach leadership skills to law enforcement executives. To graduate, Durkin and Gavalier were each required to complete 105 class hours on 20 topics, as well as 24 required readings, six research papers, five community interviews, three speeches and three team projects.
Child support cases
YOUNGSTOWN -- Three local men accused of being delinquent on child support payments pleaded innocent during arraignment Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Charles L. Yohman of Niles and Dennis Collier and Fred M. Scott Jr., both of Youngstown, were arrested last week during a statewide roundup of men accused of owing child support. Their ages were not available. All three had previously been secretly indicted by county grand juries. Edward DeAngelo, assistant prosecutor, said Yohman is believed to owe about $12,000 in support, Collier $13,500 and Scott $13,400. Their cases will be set for trial.