Friday, November 22, 2002
Ruling in Colon case
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Mahoning County judge has ruled that Jackie Colon is not mentally competent to stand trial for the December 2000 killing of a 3-month-old baby. Colon, 16, is being held in the county juvenile detention center on a charge of murder. Judge Theresa Dellick of juvenile court handed down a ruling Thursday. The ruling followed a psychiatric evaluation of Colon. Judge Dellick said Colon's case now will be sent to probate court, where Judge Timothy P. Maloney will determine whether she should be committed to a mental institution. Authorities say Colon threw 3-month-old Alex Zalovcik out a second-story window and then stabbed him to death.
Judge bows out
LISBON -- A judge appointed to hear the case of an East Liverpool attorney accused of assaulting a state trooper has removed himself from the case. Visiting Judge Richard Powell filed a notice in Columbiana County Municipal Court saying without explanation that he was bowing out of the case involving Atty. Carl Joseph King. It will be up to the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a new visiting judge. Powell, retired from Steubenville Municipal Court, was appointed at the request of local judges. King, 52, a defense attorney, is accused of striking a trooper Nov. 1 after King's companion had been arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.
Vehicles damaged
SALEM -- Nearly 20 vehicles were criminally damaged earlier this week at Stadium Chevrolet, 292 W. State St. Most of the damaged vehicles had been scratched, police said. No damage estimate was given.
Robbed of $1,400
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A man with a handgun and a woman wielding a baseball bat took $1,400 from a Wilder Avenue home. Police said a heavy-set woman with blond hair knocked on the door about 1:30 a.m. today asking to use the telephone because her car had broken down. The resident closed the door when he saw a man with a handgun running toward the house. Police said the man kicked in the door and threatened a man and woman, both 19, and then left with the money. The robber was wearing a stocking over his head and a North Carolina sweat shirt. The woman was wearing a baggy gray sweat shirt.
Purse stolen
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A 58-year-old woman waiting at a Moody Avenue bus stop told police that four teenage boys demanded her purse at 6:33 a.m. Wednesday. She refused to give it up and one boy grabbed the purse and ran off, they said. Another woman reported an attempted robbery at the Haven Nursing Home on Long Avenue. Police said the 58-year-old woman was dropping a patient off at the rear entrance at 8:40 p.m. Wednesday when a tall, thin man demanded money. The victim knocked on the door and was let in by nurse before the man could take anything, police said.
Child rapist sentencing
LISBON -- Sentencing is set for Jan. 17 for a Unity Township man who pleaded guilty to raping a child and to possessing child pornography. Robert Clemmer, 30, of West Main Street, entered the guilty pleas before Judge David Tobin of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. Clemmer faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years on the rape conviction and up to 38 years for the child pornography offense, which consisted of 19 counts. Authorities say that between 1998 and June 2001, Clemmer raped a girl born in 1992.