$75,000 DAMAGE IN FIRE

$75,000 DAMAGE IN FIRE
AUSTINTOWN -- Fire caused an estimated $75,000 damage to a home at 941 North Turner Road early today. Firefighters were called to the home at about 3:18 a.m. to extinguish a fire that had started in a garage and spread to the home's roof. They had the fire under control in about an hour. Firefighters have not determined the cause, but they do not believe it was intentionally set.
BUSINESS ROBBED
AUSTINTOWN -- Police believe thieves broke into Vinnie's Drive-Thru on South Raccoon Road early today by ramming a vehicle through the rear garage door. Officers discovered the damage to the garage door at about 3:15 a.m., after they responded to a security alarm. Once inside, the thieves took cigarettes and the cash register, which contained about $1,000.
PART OF ROUTE 11 CLOSED
LISBON -- The northbound lanes of state Route 11 between the state Route 344 Leetonia exit and state Route 154 Lisbon exit were closed around 9:30 a.m. today after an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper stopped a tanker that was leaking. A spokeswoman at the Lisbon post said the tanker spilled about one gallon of a flammable solvent. The spill was contained by the Lisbon firefighters. The road will remain closed until the trucking company's hazardous-materials team arrives to clean up the spill. No evacuations were necessary.
WOMAN REPORTS RAPE
LIBERTY -- Police are investigating the reported rape of a 22-year-old woman. The woman told police she had been drinking and was in an apartment bathroom vomiting about 8:30 p.m. Monday when a man grabbed her, carried her to the bedroom and assaulted her. She began to cry and the man apologized, she said. She was treated at Forum Health Northside Medical Center.
FALSIFICATION CHARGE
YOUNGSTOWN -- Santie D. Lofaro, 18, of Pointview Avenue wanted to get back together with his ex-girlfriend and tried injury to do it, police said. Lofaro talked a friend into stabbing him in the leg and then reported the stabbing as a shooting Monday night, reports show. Lofaro told police he was shot when three men jumped him near a tire store on Loveland Avenue. The stabbing, police discovered, took place in a school parking lot. Lofaro admitted the truth to police when confronted at St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he'd gone for treatment. A falsification charge was filed today against Lofaro, the clerk of court's office said.