Seeking early release

Seeking early release
YOUNGSTOWN -- A former Ponderosa Park concert promoter, imprisoned for defrauding park patrons, has filed a request in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for early release.
Jeffrey Best, 32, of Salem, was sentenced in June to 30 months in prison for theft, misuse of a credit card and passing bad checks.
Prosecutors said he accepted money and credit-card payments from patrons for concert tickets, but used them to cover other park-related debts. The patrons never got their tickets and did not get a refund.
The matter is pending before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum.
Woman reports robbery
CAMPBELL -- A 21-year-old Princess Street woman told police she was robbed of $80 in cash and various credit cards by three men she knows.
The woman told police she was taking the men, who range in age from 20 to 23, to an address on Seventh Street when one of them pointed a handgun at her and demanded her purse.
Naturalized citizens
YOUNGSTOWN -- Nine people were naturalized as U.S. citizens during a ceremony Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The new citizens and their country of origin are: Maria Doris Allen, Philippines; Vladelina Bowers, Ukraine; Elisabeth Caplen, Germany; Jenny Fernandez, Ecuador; Dat Quoc Hua, Vietnam; Duk Ho Kim, Korea; Alexandra Peter Morozov, Latvia; Aurel Nemes, Romania; and Bozena Puskar, Slovakia.
Carjacking reported
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 21-year-old Niles man told police two armed young men, believed to be 17, ordered him out of his car at gunpoint at 6:40 p.m. Thursday outside a convenience store on Market Street and drove off.
Also taken in the robbery were his U.S. Army identification card, $175, a gold chain and cell phone.
The Youll Street man's car, a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am registered in Virginia, was found burned out at around 11:30 p.m. Thursday in the 500 block of Tod Avenue near Crandall Park on the North Side.
4 kids escape from fire
YOUNGSTOWN -- Four kids -- ages 2 to 11 -- left alone at 1106 Stiles Ave. on the East Side escaped injury at 3:19 a.m. today when fire broke out in a second-floor bedroom, said Lt. Kevin Johnson at the Youngstown Fire Department arson bureau.
Four counts of child endangering were filed against Natasha Shuler, 24, the mother of the three oldest children.
Johnson said cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire was confined to the bedroom and damage was estimated at $2,500, Johnson said.
Raid leads to 4 arrests
YOUNGSTOWN -- Vice squad cops used search warrants to raid two houses Thursday afternoon and made four arrests.
At 140 Saranac, police arrested DuJuan Dukes, 24, of Redondo Drive, on a charge of aggravated trafficking in marijuana, and Austin W. Wilson, 18, of Fairgreen Avenue, on a charge of drug abuse-crack cocaine. Wilson was also served with a warrant charging him with failure to appear in municipal court on a loud music charge.
At 116 Seneca St., police arrested Mark Dean, 40, of Crandall Avenue, on a drug abuse-marijuana charge and Frederick Dawson, 33, also of Crandall, on charges of drug abuse-crack cocaine and tampering with evidence. Police said Dawson ran to a toilet and tried to flush suspected crack.
Lake areas reopen
CLARK, Pa. -- After four weeks of being closed because of flooding, Shenango River Lake is returning to normal. The lake elevation has dropped to the normal summer pool level, and all boat launches and access areas have reopened.
The docks and launch ramps at RC's Marina have reopened as well and the fueling area is to reopen this weekend.
Seat-belt patrol in Liberty
LIBERTY -- Township police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are on the lookout for drivers and passengers not wearing seat belts.
Police said violators will be ticketed and that no warnings will be given during the period that ends Sept. 2 and includes Labor Day.
Eyeing clerk position
NILES -- The system administrator for Niles Municipal Court has announced her intent to run for Trumbull County Clerk of Courts.
Karen Infante Allen of Lantern Lane said she plans to seek the Democratic nomination for the job in the March primary.
Clerk Margaret O'Brien has said she has no plans to run for re-election.