Tuesday, March 19, 2002
Trailer reporter stolen
SALEM -- A South Lincoln Avenue man told police someone stole his 48-foot-long truck trailer. The trailer was parked along Snyder Road and was last seen about 3 p.m. Monday.
Survey for pupils
LISBON -- Village seventh- and 10th-graders will take a student life survey, school officials said. The survey, designed by Search Institute of Minnesota, asks pupils questions about their behavior and attitudes on many topics, including sex, drugs and alcohol. Parents will have to give written permission for their children to participate, officials said. Information gathered from the survey will be shared with the board, staff and parents. The dates the survey will be administered have not been announced.
Man dies in fall in home
MERCER, Pa. -- A Findley Township man was killed in a fall inside his home. Pennsylvania State Police said David L. Mariacher, 51, of Mariacher Road was found dead in the basement of his home around 7 p.m. Friday. Police didn't reveal who found him. Scott Black, Mercer County deputy coroner, ruled the death an accident, saying Mariacher apparently fell down his basement steps, striking his head. He died of blunt force trauma to the head, Black said.
Facing multiple counts
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County District Attorney Matthew Mangino said a city man faces charges after a witness in a drug trial was threatened and beaten.
Charles M. Zduniak, 22, of Countyline Street was on county jail this morning on $100,000 bond. He is charged with three counts of retaliation against a witness, two counts of intimidation of a witness, one count of simple assault, three counts of terroristic threats and two counts of criminal use of a communication facility. He faces a maximum of 58 years in prison and $125,000 in fines if convicted.
Mangino said that on March 3, Zduniak, who has two pending drug charges, punched, kicked and threatened a witness; he is also accused of twice phoning death threats to the witness March 8.
Assault, threat charges
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Charges against a man accused of threatening a woman with a shotgun were bound to Lawrence County Common Pleas Court. James Chaffee, 35, of Edinburg, Pa., faces charges of terroristic threats and simple assault. He appeared Monday before District Justice James Reed for a preliminary hearing. According to court documents, Chaffee threatened the woman March 8 at a Neshannock Township home. Chaffee, a part-time police officer in Bessemer Borough and North Beaver Township, was off-duty at the time.
Questioned about cold
SHARON, Pa. -- Sharon City School Board is asking the high school student council to ask students if the high school/middle school has been particularly cold during renovations. Superintendent Richard Rossi said a parent attended Monday's board meeting to complain about the cold, saying her daughter has missed some school this winter because of illness resulting from the cold building. Rossi said it's the only complaint the district has received. The high school is in the midst of a $17 million renovation and school administrators have said there was a day or two when the building was cold as doors were being replaced but there was no long-term cold period.
Arrested in rape case
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Warren man faces extradition to Crawford County, Pa., on charges that he raped a 19-year-old woman there in October.
Michael J. Grantz, 25, of Draper Street, was arrested by deputy sheriffs about 4 p.m. Monday when he was at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Youngstown. He faces an extradition hearing today in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Grantz is accused of rape and sexual assault. Meadville City Assistant Police Chief Dave Stefanucci said Grantz approached the girl Oct. 18 outside a house party near the Arch Street apartment where he once lived. He then took her to his apartment and raped her. Stefanucci said the two are acquaintances.