Found guilty of robbery

Found guilty of robbery
YOUNGSTOWN -- A jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court found Clifford Wright Jr. guilty of aggravated robbery and a firearm specification Friday afternoon. Judge Maureen A. Cronin ordered that a background check be done on Wright before she sentences him. Wright, 19, of South Garland Avenue, was accused of robbing James Grant Jr. of Campbell in July 2001. Wright was a juvenile when the case originated but was bound over to common pleas court for trial as an adult.
Man drops lawsuit
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Petersburg man whose face was burned when he opened a heated can of soup has dropped his lawsuit against the Campbell's Soup Co. A document filed Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court gave no reason for the dismissal.
David Sugar of Garfield Road filed the suit in March against the New Jersey-based soup maker. His attorney, Douglas B. Taylor, said Sugar, who is a construction worker, was at a work site in January 2001 when he heated an unopened can of soup by placing it on the manifold of a piece of heavy equipment. The can exploded when Sugar attempted to open it, burning him with hot soup.
Taylor could not be reached to comment on why the suit was dismissed or whether it will be filed again.
Police officer assaulted
YOUNGSTOWN -- A city police officer was assaulted late Wednesday after responding to a call about a mentally unstable man in front of a Market Street business begging to be put in jail. Police reports say the man was sitting on a curb in front of Rural Metro Ambulance about 10:40 p.m. As police approached, the report says, he rushed a 45-year-old officer, striking him in the arm with his fists then continued swinging his fists and screaming as officers pushed him to the ground.
The report says that once on the ground, the man kicked the officer and attempted to bite him while continuing to swing his fists.
Police were able to gain control of the man after striking him in the side of the face, the report says, but they were unable to identify him because of his mental state. The officer attacked was not seriously injured. The man was taken to Mahoning County jail on a charge of assault on a police officer.
Rabies shot clinic
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown City Health Department will have a rabies shot clinic from 1 to 5 p.m. May 17 in the parking deck of the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center. The building is now Oak Hill Renaissance Place.
Man gets prison in slaying
NEWARK, Ohio (AP) -- A 79-year-old man who authorities said killed a police informant to cover up a chain of arson, fraud and other crimes was sentenced Friday to 22 years to life in prison. The Licking County Common Pleas Court jury took less than five hours Thursday to find Robert Boyes Sr., of Warsaw, guilty of aggravated murder and seven other felonies. Boyes shot Benjamin Thompson on June 17, hours after he received a court order to appear before a grand jury in an arson investigation, authorities said. Thompson, 29, of Alexandria, was identified in court testimony as the confidential informant of David Kendall, a former police officer in neighboring Heath.
Thompson told investigators that he drove Boyes in March 2002 to Coshocton, where Boyes set fire to a house. Boyes' son Todd and his girlfriend were renting the house and had taken out a $90,000 insurance policy on it.