Police probe scam

Police probe scam
NILES -- Police are investigating a scam after a supermarket manager reported an employee was tricked into wiring more than $1,700.
According to reports, an employee of the Tops Friendly Market on U.S. Route 422 received a phone call around 6:30 p.m. Friday from a woman who said she was from Western Union and needed to update computers.
The caller gave the employee a 10-digit code and said she would call back. When she called again, the woman told the employee to test a wire transfer and instructed her to transfer $1,730 from one man for pickup in Atlanta by another man.
When the employee called Western Union to verify the test was successful, she was informed no one from the company had called and that it was a scam.
Check-cashers sought
NILES -- Police are searching for two women who cashed bogus checks at two local banks.
A manager from Farmers National Bank in Niles told police two women who said they were from Youngstown presented identification and fingerprints when they cashed the checks at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
The checks, reportedly drawn on an account from Day's Inn, were for $741.36 and $748.45. When employees called to verify the women's employment, a Days Inn representative said they were not employees and the checks were not theirs, reports said.
Reports show the women cashed identical checks last Thursday at the Mineral Ridge branch of Farmers National.
Police are reviewing videotape from the banks to get physical descriptions of the women.
Taking treasurer's post
SALEM -- Schools Superintendent Dr. David Brobeck will serve as the district's temporary treasurer. Brobeck was appointed to the post by the school board, which met Sunday in a special session to make the appointment.
The treasurer's job was left vacant by the Dec. 16 resignation of Ted Cougras. School officials have provided no explanation for Cougras' departure.
They also have declined to explain why the Columbiana County Prosecutor's Office seized school district financial records several days before Cougras' resignation.
Purse stolen from car
SALEM -- A Lisbon woman told Salem police that someone threw a large rock through her car window and stole her purse from inside the vehicle.
The car was parked in a lot along the 800 block of East State Street when the crime occurred between 7:45 p.m. and 9:55 p.m. Friday, police said.
Looking into accident
LISBON -- The Lisbon post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating an accident in Yellow Creek Township that sent two Salineville residents to a Pittsburgh hospital.
The patrol said Don Allison, 67, of 5 Sycamore Drive and his passenger, Dolores Harvey, 70, of 3 Sycamore Drive, were flown from the crash site to UPMC Health System. A hospital spokeswoman said this morning Allison was in fair condition and Harvey in critical condition.
The patrol said Robert Collins, 39, of Carrollton was driving a tractor-trailer north on state Route 39 about 8:30 a.m. Saturday when the rig went off the right side of the road and struck a guardrail. The rig jackknifed left of center into the path of Allison's car. The car then struck an embankment.
Investigating arson
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Investigators are looking into an arson at 201 Patterson Ave. New Castle Fire Chief James Donston said the blaze was set at 6:50 p.m. Saturday on the outside of the home. It extended to the second floor before being extinguished.
There were no utilities operating in the vacant home, the chief noted. Firefighters did not know this morning who owned the structure.
Police seek 2 robbers
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Police are searching for two men who robbed a woman on East State Street. Police described the suspects as two black men in their mid-30s. The driver was wearing a blue ball cap and a Buffalo Bills jacket, police said. The woman was unable to describe the passenger.
The robbers pulled their car, a tan, late 1980s Oldsmobile, up to a woman walking on the 1500 block to ask for directions at 7:38 p.m. Sunday. Police said the woman bent down to talk to the men and one of the men grabbed her purse, which contained about $235.
Arrested after robbery
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Charles P. Axe, 49, of Penn Avenue remained in jail this morning on charges of robbery, terroristic threats, theft and receiving stolen property.
Axe was arrested Saturday after an armed robbery at the Quick Fill Red Apple Gas Station on Main Street at 1:15 p.m. Saturday.