Criminal damaging

Criminal damaging
YOUNGSTOWN -- After an argument with his ex-girlfriend Christmas Eve, Jernell Vernon, 28, of Fairgreen Avenue got into his car and drove into the porch of the house they shared and then struck the house next door at 478 Fairgreen, causing about $3,000 in damage, police said. The back part of the house at 478 Fairgreen caved in as Vernon drove through the rear yard, police said. He was arrested on charges of criminal damaging and reckless operation and taken to the Mahoning County jail.
Weapon, drug charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- Brandon Owens, 20, of Lexington Avenue was arrested early Christmas Day on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and aggravated trafficking in cocaine. Owens was arrested on South Bruce Street around 2:45 a.m. Saturday after a brief chase by police who had responded to two 911 calls from a house in the 200 block. A .25-caliber handgun and 14 packaged-for-sale bags of suspected crack cocaine were seized from Owens, police said.
Pet rabbits missing
YOUNGSTOWN -- Footprints in the snow led away from an above-ground cage in the 1500 block of Oak Lane where two large black and white rabbits once lived. The rabbits' owner checked on them around 3:45 p.m. Friday and discovered them missing.
Cab driver robbed
YOUNGSTOWN -- An Independent Taxi driver told police he was robbed of $75 by a man he picked up in the 1500 block of Oak Lane at 4:30 a.m. Friday and drove to Clay Street. The robber raised his hand as if he had a gun and then went through the cabbie's pockets and took the cash. He then ordered the cabbie out and drove off in the taxi. It was later found, abandoned but still running, at Atkinson and Park Vista avenues. Another taxi driver taking a fare past Atkinson spotted the stolen taxi, police said.
Tip jar is stolen
YOUNGSTOWN -- The employees' tip jar with about $200 in it at Galaxy Seafood on Belmont Avenue was stolen Friday afternoon by a man the owner told police had been hanging around the place bothering customers by begging and trying to sell a radio. The jar went missing after the man was told to leave. Police searched the surrounding neighborhoods but didn't find the thief.
Sexual assault reported
GIRARD -- Police are continuing to investigate a reported case of sexual assault. A woman told police that she had been sexually assaulted Wednesday at the home of a friend on South Davis Street. She was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center for examination and collection of evidence. Police interviewed the woman and also interviewed a suspect, who gave a statement and was released.
Car break-ins probed
GIRARD -- City police investigated a pair of automobile break-ins in the city early Thursday morning. A resident on East Broadway reported the theft of a CD player from his Pontiac Sunbird, which was parked in his driveway. A woman who lives on East Wilson Street reported that someone tried to pry her car radio out of the dashboard of her 1996 Toyota Camry as it was parked in her driveway.