Facing burglary charges
Facing burglary charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- Municipal Court Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly set bond at $40,000 for a 31-year-old East Side woman accused of escaping from a police cruiser after she was arrested on charges of burglarizing a home in her neighborhood.
Michelle Longmire, of North Truesdale Avenue, was arraigned Thursday on felony charges of burglary and escape.
Police responding to the robbery call around 8 p.m. Feb. 7 said they found Longmire leaving another Truesdale Avenue home with several items, including a Sony PlayStation, falling from beneath her coat. She was arrested, handcuffed and placed in the back seat of a police cruiser as officers searched the home.
Officers said they believe she climbed through a sliding-glass window that separates the cruiser's front and back seats and escaped through a front door.
Police arrested Longmire on the felony warrants Wednesday.
Embezzlement sentence
AUSTINTOWN -- A Madrid Drive man has been sentenced to six months of house arrest for stealing $21,657 from the United Steelworkers of America Local Union 4564 in Girard.
Stephen Hanlon, 47, who formerly served as the union's financial secretary, also was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to repay the union by Chief U.S. District Judge Paul Matia.
Hanlon pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November.
The U.S. attorney's office announced the sentencing Thursday.
In his plea agreement, Hanlon said he took the money by writing checks from the union to himself or cash. He also took cash returns from union bank deposits and diverted IRS refund checks to the union.
Hanlon falsified treasurer's records and did not provide bank statements in an effort to cover the thefts.
Breaking up fight
YOUNGSTOWN -- A group of students yelled at police and one threw a rock after a city officer used his police baton to break up a fistfight between two boys.
The officer reported that he approached the boys, both 16, on East Florida Avenue at Erie.
The officer attempted to split the boys up, using a collapsible baton, but one boy kept fighting. The officer hit the teen on the back, arm and forehead, causing a cut to his forehead.
Police said the teens will be charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Police arrest teen
YOUNGSTOWN -- City police arrested a 19-year-old South Side man on felonious assault charges after he admitted that he purposely drove his Ford Probe into oncoming traffic to hit a Honda Civic head on.
The driver of the Civic, 23, told police he was driving north on Risher Road on the city's South Side about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and avoided the Probe three times before the Civic was struck.
A passenger in the car, 25, of the West Side, told police the Probe had been following the Honda before the crash. The 25-year-old said he is dating the ex-girlfriend of the Probe's driver. The Probe's driver also was cited for having no driver's license.
Bleach-throwing case
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police arrested a 27-year-old Ridge Avenue woman Wednesday on a warrant accusing her of assault for throwing bleach into the face of a 21-year-old woman last month.
Police say the woman encountered the victim at the H & amp;R Block center at 2710 Market St. about 3 p.m. Jan. 28, threw a cup of bleach in her face and punched her face several times. The victim told police the two had been in a fight earlier in that day.
Driver identified
YOUNGSTOWN -- City police have recovered a Chrysler Lebaron suspected of being used in an assault on an Austintown police officer during a shoplifting case last Sunday.
Police pulled over the driver of the vehicle at Kincaid Avenue and Salt Springs Road in the city's West Side about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.
The driver of the car, a 37-year-old Girard man, was issued a summons for driving with a suspended license.
Austintown police identified the driver as being the one who drove the Lebaron from the Giant Eagle store in Austintown, dragging a township police lieutenant 20 feet.
The driver's girlfriend, 33, of Girard, is suspected of stealing cigars from the store before entering the car. She was arrested by Austintown police on charges of theft and resisting arrest.
The lieutenant suffered scrapes on his knee and arm.