Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Woman says she lost$3,400 in scam at mall
BOARDMAN -- A 21-year-old West Boulevard woman told police she was tricked out of $3,400 in the Southern Park Mall parking lot Friday afternoon. Police reports say the woman had just cashed a tax refund check and paycheck at a store inside the mall when she was approached by a man with a Jamaican accent asking for help.
The man, reports said, wanted help finding a particular hotel and offered the woman cash from a wad of money he was carrying if she would help him. Eventually the woman was persuaded to put her money with the man's money, and police say he switched the bag containing the money with old newspaper.
Police are asking anyone who knows about the situation to call Sgt. Albert Kakascik at the Boardman Township Police Department.
School registration
YOUNGSTOWN -- Parents who want their children to attend Youngstown Community School on Essex Street next school year can apply from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon Friday. All incoming students must live in the city of Youngstown. Call (330) 746-2240 for more information.
Possible rape reported
YOUNGSTOWN -- An 18-year-old Youngstown State University student has reported to city police that she may have been raped after drinking alcohol and falling asleep in a city residence.
The woman said she was drinking at a party and left to go to an apartment near YSU, where she drank more alcohol. She said she felt dizzy and fell asleep, then awoke around 11 a.m. Sunday to discover that her clothes had been removed.
She said she was drowsy and unaware of her surroundings. She said no one else was around when she awoke and she dressed and fled.
Endangering child
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 27-year-old Warren man was arrested on the city's South Side after speeding away from police with a 4-year-old boy lying on the floor in the back seat of his car.
City police tried to pull over the Chevrolet Celebrity near Rush and Midlothian boulevards after it sped through a red light around 10:45 p.m. Monday. The driver continued speeding and ran a second red light before stopping on Elbertus Avenue.
The driver was issued a summons for endangering children and traffic citations for reckless operation, failing to display operator's license, disobeying a traffic control device and not wearing a seat belt.
West Side predators
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man driving a burgundy four-door car tried to lure a 14-year-old girl into the vehicle as she was walking home after school from a bus stop, police reports show. It is the second report in a week that city police have received about men trying to lure girls into their vehicles on the city's West Side.
The girl told police on Monday that she got off the bus at Connecticut and Richview avenues around 2:30 p.m. Feb. 11 when she was approached by the driver, a black man about 35 years old.
On Thursday, a 12-year-old girl walking home from a bus stop near Oakwood and Wesley avenues had been approached by a white man in his mid- to late-20s driving a black Chevrolet Blazer.
Mahoning River birds
BOARDMAN -- The Audubon Society/Mahoning Valley will have a program about the Mahoning River at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Boardman Library, 7680 Glenwood Ave. The presenter will be Ed Goist. The public is welcome.
Child found shivering
YOUNGSTOWN -- A neighbor found a 5-year-old boy shivering in his East Philadelphia Avenue driveway on the city's South Side, wearing only a T-shirt, socks and underwear around 2 p.m. Monday.
Police said the boy was left home alone by his 15-year-old brother, who had been asked to care for him by their mother.