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LIBERTY Police find woman hiding in attic

Thursday, March 20, 2003


The woman told her father she was a captive so he'd worry about her.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- A woman wanted in Youngstown for failing to appear for trial was arrested by Liberty police who say they found her hiding in an attic.
Darlene L. Shina, 23, of 1509 Millicent Ave., was arrested at 9:42 p.m. Sunday on warrants for failure to appear on a traffic ticket, child endangerment and animal cruelty.
According to reports, police received a call from a man who told them his daughter left him a message saying her boyfriend had beaten her, broken her arm and was holding her captive in the house.
No one answered the door when police arrived, but after 20 minutes they heard a woman's faint screams for help coming from the attic.
Officers broke a small window to gain access and encountered Naim George Malek, 34, of the same address, coming down the stairs. Police ordered him to the ground, and questioned him about where the woman was, but Malek would only say she left and went to a girlfriend's house.
Reports says that after searching the home, officers found Shina hiding behind bags of garbage in the attic.
Message to father
Shina told police she had left her father the message because they were not getting along and she wanted him to worry about her. She said she was hiding because she knew Youngstown police had warrants for her arrest.
Shina was arrested by Youngstown police in July after they found the home she rented at 3916 Howard St. in deplorable condition.
Housing inspectors red-tagged the Youngstown house, owned by Tony Malek, as uninhabitable after finding human and animal feces, trash and a nonworking toilet.
Shina's 4-year-old daughter was released to the custody of her father, Brian Shina.
Shina was released on $17,500 bond and was due back in municipal court Oct. 23 for a jury trial, but never showed, according to records. After her arrest Sunday, she was turned over to Youngstown authorities.
Naim Malek was to appear in Girard Municipal Court today on a charge of obstruction of official business.