WARREN Men file suits against police

The city hasn't been served with the lawsuits, which were filed Friday.
WARREN -- Two Warren men have filed separate federal lawsuits against the city, its police chief and several officers.
Both suits were filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Youngstown, and seek unspecified damages.
Greg Hicks, Warren's law director, said he has not been served with copies of the lawsuits and declined to comment.
One suit was filed by Michael Simpson Jr. of Red Fox Run N.W. through attorneys Richard A. Olivito and Sarah Thomas Kovoor and contends Simpson suffered physical and emotional injuries from excessive force used by the officers last March outside of the Comfort Inn, North Park Avenue, after a birthday party at the hotel.
Simpson was sentenced to five days in jail on an obstruction of justice charge. He had pleaded guilty to the charge.
Second suit
The second suit, filed by Clarence Clay of Brier Street N.E., was filed through Olivito. It contends that Clay was beaten and illegally strip-searched by officers after a traffic stop March 26.
"The system of policing which has been allowed to exist in Warren is a throwback to the days of a bygone era," Clay's lawsuit said. "It is simply recreant to the notion of all modern legal, social and political rights and their progress."
Clay was charged with misdemeanor counts of obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, both of which are pending in Warren Municipal Court.
Two teenage sisters filed a lawsuit in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court last week alleging that their rights were violated after the birthday party at the hotel.
Two men filed a federal lawsuit earlier this week contending their constitutional rights were violated when they were subjected to body-cavity searches by police.