Dead man identified
Dead man identified
YOUNGSTOWN -- The man found dead early Sunday inside a car parked behind 924 Oak St., the Royal Oaks bar, has been identified as Steve Mulichak, 36, of East Boston Avenue. The cause of death will be determined after a coroner's investigation. A witness first spotted the car, with its engine running, at 2:30 a.m. Sunday. She spotted it again at 6:15 a.m. and called police. The car was still running when police arrived. Mulichak, who was found lying on the front seat, had no pulse, police said. He was taken to Forum Health Northside Medical Center, which means the autopsy will be done by the Trumbull County coroner's office.
New Habitat house
YOUNGSTOWN -- Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning County breaks ground Tuesday for its 11th new home in the county.
The house will be at Bruno Street and Oregon Avenue on the West Side. The house will be Habitat's first on the West Side, meeting the agency's goal of having a home on each of the city's four sides.
Joy Rios and her sister, Kimberly Helms, will be the homeowners. Rios is a materials handler at the Kaufmann's Distribution Center. Helms is a residential aide at Mahoning County Addiction Services.
The home, a three-bedroom, one-bath ranch, is funded chiefly by First Energy.
The Mahoning County Habitat agency has built or rehabilitated 16 houses since 1989.
2 injured in shooting
YOUNGSTOWN -- A shooting on the East Side on Sunday night injured two men, one of whom was arrested.
Michael Hayes, 38, of Kendis Circle, was in guarded condition today in St. Elizabeth Health Center, recovering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Jeffrey Lynn, 27, of Upland Avenue, was treated at the hospital Sunday night for a gunshot wound to his left leg. He was arrested on a charge of felonious assault.
A witness told police that the driver of a Ford Contour was "acting crazy" and firing shots as he drove through Kendis Circle. Lynn was later identified as the driver. Hayes, the witness said, was shot when he approached the Ford and told the driver to stop shooting, adding, "We have kids around here."
After Hayes was shot, Lynn's car was fired upon by people nearby, reports show. The people who fired were not identified.
Woman attacked, robbed
YOUNGSTOWN -- An 88-year-old West Side woman was punched in the head, knocked to the ground and robbed of her purse late Sunday morning in the Sparkle Market parking lot on Mahoning Avenue, police said.
The victim told police that when she approached her car with her groceries at 11 a.m., a man parked next to her jumped out of his car and attacked her. The suspect drove off toward Oakwood Avenue, reports show.
Girls arrested
YOUNGSTOWN -- Five girls, ages 8 to 16, found inside Wilson High School were arrested on charges of breaking and entering, vandalism and obstructing official business. Police who responded to burglar alarms that sounded at 10:37 p.m. Saturday found 13 broken windows, red and blue paint splattered on walls, doors and stairs and discovered that trophy cases and lockers had been opened. The girls told police they had been forced into the school by two gunmen then later admitted that was a lie. Three of the girls, 14, 15, and 16, live at the same address on Tampa Avenue. The remaining two girls are a 14-year-old from West Dennick Avenue and an 8-year-old from Parkcliff Avenue. The youngest girl was turned over to her grandmother. The others were taken to the juvenile justice center.
Drug charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man stopped for speeding on the South Side late Sunday was arrested on drug charges. Charles L. Johnson, 41, listed as homeless, faces charges of possession of crack, possession of drug paraphernalia (crack pipe), conveyance of drugs into a detention facility, speeding, cracked windshield, driving under suspension and fictitious plates.