Man shot in mouth

Man shot in mouth
YOUNGSTOWN -- Steven Slade, 18, of Woodside Avenue was sitting on his porch, bleeding from the mouth and saying he'd been shot when police arrived around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday. Witnesses said there was a knock at the door, and when Slade went to answer gunfire rang out and a bullet passed through the door. The suspect ran away. Police found three teeth on the carpet near the door. Slade was in stable condition Thursday night at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Vehicular homicide
YOUNGSTOWN -- Johnny Serrano, 25, charged in the traffic death of his younger brother, surrendered to U.S. marshals Thursday at a Boardman restaurant. Serrano, of Guss Avenue, is expected to be arraigned today in Youngstown Municipal Court, said Dean Michael, deputy U.S. marshal.
City Prosecutor Jay Macejko filed an aggravated vehicular homicide charge against Serrano earlier this week. Serrano's brother, Edward, 17, a junior at The Rayen School, died in a fiery crash Oct. 11 on Poland Avenue. The prosecutor said Johnny Serrano's blood-alcohol content was .155, nearly double the legal limit of .08.
Eatery evacuated
AUSTINTOWN -- Heavy smoke from the restaurant's fireplace forced employees and customers to evacuate and close the Cracker Barrel at 5600 Interstate Blvd.
Chief Andy Frost of Austintown Fire Department said firefighters put out the fire in the fireplace Thursday afternoon, removed the wood, then remained on the scene to vent the smoke out of the building. A dispatcher said firefighters were called to the restaurant around 4:50 p.m. Frost said the company had the fireplace serviced Wednesday, and apparently no one opened the flue to allow smoke to vent from the chimney. He said no injuries were reported, but smoke was heavy and people had to leave the building to breathe.
Hearing in hit-and-run
WARREN -- Another hearing is scheduled today leading up to a possible Monday trial for Irving Russ, the city man charged with hit-and-run/failure to stop after an accident and other charges in an accident that injured Annie Lee of Howland.
Russ, 32, of Risher Road Southwest, appeared in court Thursday where his attorneys, Jeff Goodman and John Fowler, asked Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to dismiss charges because authorities lost an audiotape recording of testimony by a chief witness in the case.
Judge Stuard asked the attorneys and Ken Bailey, assistant county prosecutor, to put their arguments into writing by today. Annie, her 3-year-old brother, and her grandmother were struck by a vehicle at U.S. Route 422 and North Road in 2004. Annie, who was left a quadriplegic because of the accident, died earlier this month.
Facing hit-run charge
YOUNGSTOWN -- A silver Honda police said struck a car that crashed into a utility pole on Market Street around 3 a.m. Thursday was stopped by Boardman police on Southern Boulevard at Beechwood Drive after witnesses gave a description and license plate number. The driver, Richard Bernacki, 32, of Beechwood Drive was charged with hit-and-run and failure to have assured clear distance ahead. He was arraigned Thursday in municipal court, and a pretrial was set for Dec. 14. The driver of the car that crashed into the pole was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center. The report with the man's identity was not immediately available.