Effort to shut motel

Effort to shut motel
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County prosecutor's and state attorney general's offices are seeking to shut down the Wagon Wheel Motel in Boardman as a public nuisance.
The prosecutor's office filed suit Tuesday in common pleas court seeking a permanent injunction to board up the motel, at 7015 Market St., for a year. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14 before Judge James C. Evans.
In July, police raided the motel and arrested the manager on drug charges. Police said the motel is one of several along Market Street that have had longtime reputations for illegal drug activity. The owners are listed as Akm Mazibur Rahman and Nasrin Rahman of Boardman.
In September 2003, police raided the Terrace Motel, 4972 Market St., and lodged drug charges against the manager, declared the business a nuisance and had it boarded up.
I-80 motorcycle crash
MERCER, Pa. -- A man lost his left foot in a weekend motorcycle crash on Interstate 80 in Lackawannock Township. Pennsylvania State Police said Michael Cleary, 55, of Euclid, Ohio, lost control of his 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle as he was speeding around a curve at 5:29 p.m. Sunday.
Police said the motorcycle hit a guardrail, where its front wheel came off and remained lodged. His motorcycle then traveled about 172 feet before Cleary was thrown and his foot was cut off. The motorcycle continued about 60 feet and came to rest. Cleary was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment.
Sentenced in robbery
WARREN -- A Youngstown man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in an armed robbery. Larry Johnson, 41, of Belmont Avenue pleaded guilty Tuesday before Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to complicity to aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to seven years, and an additional three years for a gun specification.
Chris Becker, an assistant county prosecutor, said Johnson was the driver in the Sept. 11, 2004, robbery of the BP gas station at Belmont and Gypsy Lane. About $114 was taken. Anthony Jerome Smith of Norwood Avenue, Youngstown, the robber, was convicted by a jury of aggravated robbery. Judge Andrew Logan sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
WMD team to meet
VIENNA -- Trumbull County Weapons of Mass Destruction Advisory Team meets at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency, at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. The team advises the EMA on how Department of Homeland Security funds are spent in the county. The agency received $462,987 this year. It is being spent on fire department generators and pagers, a law enforcement records management system, and a team to rescue victims of collapsed building and construction trench sites.
Bikeway section closed
YOUNGSTOWN -- A section of the MetroParks Bikeway will close today for asphalt preventive maintenance. The bikeway will be closed from Kirk Road north to the end of the trail at the Mahoning County/Trumbull County line. The section is expected to reopen Saturday.
20th driving charge
YOUNGSTOWN -- Arthur D. Jones, 26, of Fairmont Avenue has never had a driver's license and has 19 open suspensions if he ever gets one, police said. Jones was arrested Friday night and charged with driving under suspension, his 20th, reports show. He was arraigned Tuesday in municipal court. He will be back in court Oct. 7 for a pretrial. Police who stopped Jones on the South Side for not having a license plate light confiscated $1,201 they found on him, saying he couldn't justify possession of the cash. Jones told police he does not work and has his family support him.