Magistrate to weigh city's request to shut down Stiles Super Market

YOUNGSTOWN -- Magistrate Eugene Fehr is considering whether Stiles Super Market should be permanently closed as a public nuisance.
A hearing was held Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, where city officials argued that the market should be shut down. Fehr took the matter under advisement and will make a decision later this week
City officials filed a lawsuit in common pleas court two weeks ago, seeking to have the store at 1922 McGuffey Road declared a public nuisance because of drug sales on and near the premises.
Police Chief Robert Bush said the East Side shop has been padlocked since Sept. 11, when the city obtained a temporary order allowing it to be closed. Monday's hearing was to determine whether the shutdown is permanent.
Store operator Mohammed Haider, who lives in an apartment above the store, said several times during the hearing that he was not aware of the alleged drug activity.
Police received complaints from residents this spring and summer of gunfire, loitering and apparent drug sales in the parking lot, Bush said.