Police warn about scam

Police warn about scam
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- City police are warning residents to be wary of people contending to be from Publisher's Clearinghouse. Police said an elderly woman was contacted by telephone Wednesday by someone telling her she had won $150,000 in the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.
The caller told her she needed to wire $350 to Esther Davis in New York City before the money could be delivered.
Police said Publisher's Clearinghouse winners do not need to pay money to receive their prizes. Police said they are contacting the FBI to also look into the matter.
Indecent exposure
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police are looking for a heavyset white man with reddish-gray hair who exposed himself to a female jogger on the Stavich Bike Trail in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County, earlier this month.
Police released the details this morning but said the exposure took place July 7. The man was possibly driving an older-style square vehicle with a faded red color and rust on the bottom. There was also a gray panel on the passenger side, police said.
Man beaten with bat
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A 32-year-old man was taken to the hospital after being beaten with a baseball bat. Ronald Mahone, 21, of Pin Oak Drive is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment.
Police said the victim told them Mahone started beating him at about 6 p.m. Thursday after Mahone accused the victim of giving a woman a sexually transmitted disease.
Man beaten, shot at
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A Pin Oak Drive man says he was beaten up and then shot at near his home early today.
Police said the 47-year-old victim got into an argument with another man who hit the victim with the butt of a handgun at 3:55 a.m. today.
Police said the victim went to his brother's house for help and when he left, someone was shooting at him. He ducked behind a tree after he felt something graze his leg.
Police said a bullet went through the man's pant leg but did not go into his leg.
The victim did not know the shooter's name but described him as a black man in his 20s, with a thin build, standing 5 feet 7 inches tall.
Carnival rides stolen
YOUNGSTOWN -- Six carnival amusement rides -- tug boats and train engines -- worth $7,2000 were stolen from Lisko Amusements on McGuffey Road, reports show. The theft was discovered Thursday.
Someone cut through a fence on the property at 3865 McGuffey to gain entry to the rides, which were in crates.
Dog bites officer's leg
YOUNGSTOWN -- Patrolman Brian Booksing was bitten in his right calf by a black-and-white dog of unidentified breed around 7:30 p.m. Thursday during a search for a man driving a white Chevrolet Cavalier.
It wasn't immediately clear why the officer was looking for the man. Booksing saw a man run from a white Cavalier to the rear of a house in the 100 block of North Belle Vista Avenue.
As the officer approached the back door and ordered the man out, the dog barked then bit him. The bite broke the skin. An ambulance crew applied alcohol wipes and a cold compress.
The dog's owner, John Perkins, 28, told police that the dog had a rabies shot in February. He was issued a citation for not having a license for the dog.
Driving under suspension
YOUNGSTOWN -- Lachon Phillips, 27, of School Street N.W., Warren was arrested around 2:30 a.m. today on the South Side on charges of driving under suspension and playing loud music.
When Phillips' Cadillac was stopped on Market Street, he identified himself as Terrence Warren and gave police a Social Security number that didn't jibe with that name, reports show.
He then identified himself as the owner of the Cadillac and a check of its license plate number revealed that Phillips' driver's license is under two suspensions, police said. Phillips was booked into the Mahoning County Jail pending arraignment today in municipal court.