Stolen cruiser case goes back to Krichbaum

YOUNGSTOWN -- A three-judge panel of the 7th District Court of Appeals unanimously sent a case involving a stolen police car back to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for resentencing.
The appellate panel ruled this week that Kimberly A. Kalasky, 24, of Youngstown, was sentenced under provisions of state law the Ohio Supreme Court declared unconstitutional while Kalasky's appeal was pending.
In January, Judge Krichbaum sentenced Kalasky to six years in prison for robbery, three counts of assault on peace officers, and failure to comply with the order or signal of police.
City police had gone to Kalasky's home July 15, 2005, regarding stolen checks. When they said she wouldn't cooperate, they arrested her on an obstruction-of-justice charge. Prosecutors said Kalasky used a knife to cut through the partition between the back and front seats of a city cruiser, tried to stab an officer with the knife, stole the cruiser, and led police on a chase over Interstates 680, 80 and 76 before being apprehended in an Austintown roadblock.
The assault charges stemmed from three Austintown police officers' nearly being struck by the cruiser she was driving.