SALEM Couple faces charges after raid at home

The same two people were victims of a crime last year.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Firearms, explosives and suspected drugs were seized from a Butler Township home in a raid carried out by nearly 40 law enforcement officers from numerous agencies.
Officers raided the home of John and Leslie Stoffer, 1359 Slater Road, about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Brian McLaughlin, director of the Columbiana County Drug Task Force.
The search temporarily was suspended after officers discovered what appeared to be two booby traps in a bedroom, McLaughlin said.
Officers on the scene called the Youngstown Police Department bomb squad and agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
They removed the devices and detonated them outside the home.
Dozens of handguns, rifles and shotguns were found on the property and taken as evidence. Multiple ounces of suspected cocaine also were seized, McLaughlin said.
Authorities believe drug-dealing was occurring on the property and obtained a search warrant Wednesday morning from Judge Mark Frost of county municipal court.
Stoffer, 40, was arrested during the raid and charged with receiving stolen property after authorities say they found $5,000 worth of lumber that was stolen in July from People's Lumber on Snyder Road in Perry Township.
He was in the county jail this morning.
Leslie Stoffer, 31, was charged with resisting arrest. She is free on bond.
The Stoffers are husband and wife.
The same couple were victims of a Dec. 12 crime in which two masked men invaded their home.
The intruders forced Leslie upstairs, demanded cash and struck her in the forehead with a gun butt. Thousands of dollars was stolen.
As the men were leaving, John, who had been in the garage, fired several shots at them and is believed to have injured at least one of the robbers.
The crime has not been solved.
McLaughlin said investigators are examining the evidence seized Wednesday, and more charges could be forthcoming.
Agencies involved in the raid included the county sheriff's department, Salem and Perry Township police, the Alliance Police Department's narcotics and special response units, the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.