Five face trespassing, drug charges

The house was red-tagged for unsanitary conditions and an unsafe structure.
By KANTELE FRANKO
VINDICATOR staff writer
YOUNGSTOWN -- Members of the Youngstown Police Vice Squad charged five people with criminal trespassing and drug charges after raiding a Shehy Street house in search of illegal narcotics and contraband.
Acting on a search warrant Thursday, the officers broke through the front door of a house that was red-tagged by housing inspectors as having no water, unsanitary conditions and an unsafe structure, according to police reports.
Police found five adults in the building, each of whom was charged with criminal trespassing and appeared for arraignment Friday before municipal Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr.
The defendants were Michael Cain, 27, of Mistletoe Avenue; Katrina Haskins, 21, of Ravine Road; Lindsey Henry, 30, of West Chalmers Road; Rodney Moses, 31, of Mabel Street; and Eboni Williams, 19, of Garland Avenue.
Moses pleaded innocent to additional charges of possession of dangerous drugs and drug abuse and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing in mid-January. Police found Moses holding marijuana when they entered the building, records show.
Williams also was charged with drug abuse after police found a plastic bag of marijuana in her purse. She pleaded innocent and is scheduled for pretrial in mid-January.
Others charged
Trials are scheduled throughout the next month for Cain and Haskins, who pleaded innocent to criminal trespassing. Police also found five children in the building -- three were Haskins' children and two were other relatives -- but no related charges were filed.
Henry pleaded no contest to the same charge and will be sentenced in late January.
All defendants were released on their own recognizance.
Based on the findings of human waste, dead rodents and offensive odors throughout the building, police recommended that the housing inspector mark the structure for demolition, the report shows.