YOUNGSTOWN Police capture assault suspect

The fugitive was arrested on the city's East Side.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Members of the Violent Crimes Task Force captured Lamont M. Belcher, who was featured in The Vindicator last month as fugitive of the week.
Belcher, 19, of Willis Avenue, was found Tuesday afternoon at 1358 Shehy St. on the East Side. The warrants charge him with felonious assault and failure to appear in municipal court on a charge of driving under suspension.
Members of the task force surrounded the house on Shehy. Within 15 minutes, the residents of the house -- Carlos Flores, 29, Katrina Haskins, 19, and Nakeisha Haskins, 18 -- came out with several small children.
Each person was questioned about Belcher and said he wasn't there, police said. All three were charged with obstructing official business.
Belcher was found hiding in the attic, police said. A loaded gun also was taken from the house.
Earlier cases
In September 2002, Flores and Belcher were arrested in Austintown on drug charges. Flores was charged with complicity to trafficking in heroin, and Belcher was charged with drug abuse-OxyContin and drug abuse-cocaine.
Disposition of the case wasn't immediately available.
Belcher made news in January 2001 when he and two other boys were charged in the beating and robbery of an 83-year-old South Side man and theft of a car from a married couple.
The charges against Belcher eventually were dropped when prosecutors determined he did not participate in the crimes. Belcher drove and crashed the stolen car, Vindicator files say.