Phony police stops

Phony police stops
CORTLAND -- Police Chief Gary Mink is warning motorists in the city to be careful if someone in what appears to be an unmarked police car attempts to stop them.
Mink said his department has received two reports of a man stopping motorists.
Mink recommends keeping doors locked and opening windows only enough to communicate with the officer during a stop if motorists think the police officer may be phony.
If they have doubts, they should also ask for official identification with a photograph, and they can call 911 if they have a cell phone, Mink said.
Plea in kidnapping case
WARREN -- A 41-year-old Jackson St. S.W. man has pleaded innocent in municipal court to charges of felonious assault and abduction.
Roger A. Hunt remained in the Trumbull County jail today under $500,000 bond.
Police said Hunt is accused of kidnapping his girlfriend and threatening her with a knife.
Woman shot in robbery
WARREN -- A 22-year-old Ivanhoe N.E. woman was treated at a local hospital for gunshot wounds.
The woman told police three men, wearing camouflage clothing and ski masks, entered her home around 2 a.m. today.
She said they demanded money, then shot her in the buttocks. No arrests have been made.
Relay for Life benefit
NILES -- The Niles Relay for Life board will sponsor a benefit concert featuring entertainment from Big Daddy Burl.
Admission to the Jan. 18 event at Creekside Golf Dome on U.S. Route 422 in Girard is $5. Music begins at 10 p.m.
Call Jodi Riedel at (330) 652-5656 or the American Cancer Society office at (330) 841-4970.
Real estate title course
CHAMPION -- Trumbull Career and Technical Center is offering a new course on real estate title examination.
Classes will meet from 6 to 9 p.m. every Wednesday from Jan. 8 through April 9.
Cost is $250.
The class covers the examination of public records dealing with real estate, the history and purpose of the title industry, types of legal documents used, the process of title examination and Internet research tools.
Call TCTC adult training center at (330) 824-2588.
Liberty trustee meeting
LIBERTY -- Township trustees will combine their organizational and regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the township administration building.
Cop is free on bond
WARREN -- James Pasquale, a detective sergeant with the Youngstown Police Department, is free on $2,500 personal bond awaiting a hearing Jan. 27 in Warren Municipal Court on charges of criminal trespass and assault.
Lt. Robin Lees, YPD's public information officer, said Pasquale was off duty Dec. 28 when he had a confrontation with Tino Merlo at Toyota Volvo Jaguar of Warren, 3810 Youngstown Road S.E.
Pasquale wanted back his $100 down payment but was told he couldn't get it until Monday, Lees said.
During the scuffle, Merlo pushed Pasquale up steps, where another employee intervened.
Merlo suffered facial cuts, Lees said.
Pasquale, who also was injured in the scuffle, remains on the job. He referred questions to Warren attorney Sarah T. Kovoor, who could not be reached.
Charged with rape
SHARON, Pa. -- Police have arrested Roy E. Trump, 19, of Prindle Street on charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and sexual assault.
Trump is accused of forcing himself on a 20-year-old Sharon woman at a home in the 400 block of South Dock Street on Saturday.
Trump was picked up in the 300 block of Sharpsville Avenue around 4 p.m. Thursday and was to be arraigned today.
Stairway wall toppled
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man drove his car into a wall around a stairway to the city hall basement, causing the wall to collapse Thursday afternoon, police said.
Edward A. Condo-Vounesuis, 82, who lives in Amedia Plaza, 131 W. Boardman St., pulled his car from a parking place on Phelps Street at 2:25 p.m. His car went over the curb, onto the sidewalk and into the wall at 10 mph, police said. He was charged with failure to control his vehicle.
Pleads innocent
LISBON -- A former secretary at a law firm has pleaded innocent to stealing nearly $14,000 from her boss.
Deborah Reese, 46, of Berkshire Road, East Liverpool, is charged with theft and multiple counts of forgery and money laundering.
County Prosecutor Robert Herron said Reese took the money by writing checks in 1997 and 1998 on the account of Atty. J. Michael Kapp, who died in December 2001.