WARREN Stolen county car is recovered

The car was gutted, police say.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A county-owned car driven by Trumbull County Commissioner James G. Tsagaris was discovered burned out in a wooded area in Boardman Township, less than a day after being reported stolen.
Boardman firefighters responding to reports of an explosion off Hopkins Road found the car shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, Boardman police reports say.
The car, a 2001 Chevrolet Impala, was gutted, reports say. The automotive Web site Edmunds.com said that car in good condition would be worth about $12,000.
Trumbull County's insurance policy will cover the loss, said James Keating, human resources director.
The car was taken from behind Tsagaris' house on North Road N.E. either Monday evening or Tuesday morning, the commissioner told police.
He said he left the keys under the seat of the car, as is sometimes his habit, after removing his possessions.
Was to return car
Tsagaris said he planned to turn the car back to the county this week in keeping with a new policy restricting the use of county vehicles.
He said he considers his driveway safe because it is on a private drive not plainly visible from the main road, and no pedestrians walk past.
A car owned by Tsagaris also was stolen from his driveway in 1999, then recovered about a month later.
Tsagaris said thieves broke a window to get into that vehicle, a 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser driven by his son.
In Warren, it is a minor misdemeanor to leave a car with the keys in the ignition. The law, however, does not penalize drivers for leaving their keys elsewhere in the vehicle, said city Prosecutor Tracey Timko-Rose.