Van falls from hauler

Van falls from hauler
YOUNGSTOWN -- No one was hurt when a motorist crashed into a van that fell from a car hauler. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the car hauler driven by Richard E. Grant, 40, of Warren, hit the Thalia Road overpass on Interstate 680 about 6:50 p.m. Thursday, causing the van to dislodge. James A. Engle, 26, of Canfield was following the northbound truck and hit the van.
Fight leads to charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 24-year-old woman faces a domestic violence charge after cutting her cousin's wrist and biceps with a straight razor during an argument, police reports show. The cousin, also 24, said the woman has been living at her East Philadelphia Avenue home for two weeks and the two had argued Wednesday. On Thursday, the cousin punched the woman, who used a straight razor to cut her three times. She was treated at Beeghly Medical Park.
Phone box torn down
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man told police that someone had ripped the phone box off his house Wednesday. The Shaw Street residence is in the same neighborhood as the home of a Dudley Avenue woman who was robbed at gunpoint in her home at about 9:15 p.m. Wednesday by thieves who had cut her phone line. The man said he had heard a noise Wednesday night and saw a man on his back porch run to a vehicle and drive away.
Black history program
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Associated Neighborhood Centers will have its annual African American History program from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the McGuffey Centre, Jacobs Road. The theme will be "Looking Back But Going Forward." Entertainment will include the McGuffey Centre Seniors in Song, a youth skit presentation, saxophonist David Taylor and the Red Hawk American Indian Cultural Society Dance Troop.
Car dealer threatened
YOUNGSTOWN -- A disgruntled customer threatened to burn cars and shoot people at Glenwood Auto, 2705 Glenwood Ave, police reports show. The business owner reported to police that the man came to the business about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, wanting money back for a vehicle he bought, but the owner refused.
Weapon charge
YOUNGSTOWN -- City police arrested a 19-year-old man on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon after neighbors saw him screaming outside his girlfriend's home. Police found the Dorothy Avenue man outside a Judson Avenue residence. A 16-year-old-girl there said she is his girlfriend and they had been arguing. He was arrested when police found a loaded .32-caliber revolver in his jacket pocket.
Beware of plumber
AUSTINTOWN -- A township woman told police this week that she was scammed out of $500 after hiring a plumber she had found in the phone book to do repairs in a home she rents.
The woman gave the plumber the check for the money as a down payment for work he was supposed to do in her bathroom but asked him not to cash it until she got approval for the work from her landlord.
Despite a telephone call the next business day informing the plumber not to cash the check but to bill the landlord instead, the plumber cashed the check in Cleveland and never returned to do the work.
The woman told police she then contacted the Better Business Bureau, who informed her that 28 complaints had been filed against the plumber in the last three years.
Thefts reported
AUSTINTOWN -- The owner of a commercial building at 4740 Mahoning Ave. reported that his tenant stole $6,550 worth of restaurant equipment, including a complete bar, bar stools, TV and commercial deep fryer, late Wednesday night or Thursday when she vacated the property. The 53-year-old man told police he had leased the property known as Sandy's Bar and its contents to a 55-year-old Berlin Center woman Dec. 1, 2000.
Crash kills driver
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Police said Steve Gurrera, 84, of Sharon-New Castle Road, Farrell, was killed when his car collided with a pickup truck at Maple Drive and the Shenango Valley Freeway around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Police said Gurrera was hit broadside by Vincent Adams, 57, of Bend Road, Mercer. Adams and his wife, Betty, 56, were taken to UPMC Horizon for treatment. Gurrera is the father of city Commissioner Larry Gurrera.