Warren woman is injured in crash

Warren womanis injured in crash
RAVENNA -- An 18-year-old Warren woman is in Cleveland Metro-General Hospital in serious condition after a crash in Franklin Township.
Ravenna police said the vehicle driven by Lindsey R. Lantz, 18, a senior at Warren G. Harding High School, hit a telephone pole on state Route 59.
Ravenna Township Fire Department personnel had to cut apart the car to remove her.
A press release issued today by police states that officers attempted to stop Lantz's vehicle around 9:25 p.m. Wednesday for speeding, but she kept driving.
The Ravenna Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which assisted with the accident, is investigating the crash.
No charges have been filed.
Ward meeting
WARREN -- Councilman Robert Holmes III, D-4th, will conduct a ward meeting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Hippodrome, High Street Northeast.
Items to be discussed include the 0.5 percent income tax renewal and the possibility of selling used city equipment on the Internet.
11th DUI convictionlands man in prison
WARREN -- An Ashtabula County man, who was convicted of his 11th charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol, was sentenced to three years in prison.
Judge John Stuard sentenced David A. Tackett of Jefferson during a brief hearing Thursday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Tackett, who has had 10 DUIs in the past 19 years, also was convicted of child endangering and failing to comply with the order or signal of a police officer.
Ken Bailey, an assistant county prosecutor, said Tackett was arrested, after a pursuit by authorities in September 2003.
A 7-year-old girl was in his pickup truck at the time of the arrest, Bailey said.
Fire levy boosters
MINERAL RIDGE -- The Weathersfield Township Fire Levy Committee will have meetings to present information and discuss the need for the 1.5-mill fire levy on the March 2 ballot.
Meetings are 7 p.m. Tuesday at Fire Station 41 on state Route 46, Mineral Ridge; 7 p.m. Wednesday at Fire Station 40 at Tibbetts-Wick Road and Gardenland Avenue, McKinley Heights; and 7 p.m. Thursday at Fire Station 42, 1382 W. Park Ave., Niles.
Police: Beware of trick
NILES -- A man contending he is a relative of a local restaurateur is tricking people out of their money, police said.
The white male is 5 feet 11 inches tall with a medium build, brown hair and brown eyes, reports show.
Most recently, he entered the Trumbull County Convention and Visitors Bureau around 4:30 p.m. Thursday and told an employee he was a relative of Robert Abruzzi, owner of Cafe 422, and needed $20 to pay someone to get his keys unlocked from his vehicle.
The employee, who told police she is familiar with Abruzzi, gave the man the money and then saw him drive off in a white sport utility vehicle.
The woman told police that when she contacted Abruzzi, he told her he'd been informed by others in the area that the same thing happened to them.
Abduction attempt
NILES -- Police are searching for a man who reportedly tried to get a middle school pupil into his van by telling her he had puppies for her to see.
The 10-year-old West Park Avenue girl told police she was walking home from school on Hyde Street around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday when the white male with brown hair and a goatee pulled alongside her, opened his door and asked her to get in to see the puppies.
The girl ran home and told her mother, who called police.
The girl also told police the van had writing on the side, but reports do not list what the writing was.
Indictment unsealed
CLEVELAND -- Authorities have unsealed a four-count federal indictment charging an Ashtabula man with making and distributing methamphetamine in northeast Ohio on several dates between Oct. 24 and Dec. 12, 2003.
Facing these drug charges is Gregory A. McFarland, 30, of West 58th Street, the U.S. Attorney said.
The case is being prosecuted by Youngstown-based U.S. Atty. Linda H. Barr after an investigation by the Trumbull, Ashtabula and Geauga Law Enforcement Task Force and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.