Indictments in cruiser crash, North Side murder

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County grand jury has indicted a Girard woman on an aggravated vehicular assault charge. She allegedly rear-ended and set ablaze an Austintown police cruiser and critically burned the officer inside .

Also indicted were three men charged in a North Side murder.

Adrien N. Foutz, 22, of Iowa Avenue, was indicted Thursday in the Nov. 11 incident. The car she was driving hit the cruiser driven by Officer Ross Linert on North Meridian Road near Interstate 680.

Linert, 48, a 12-year veteran of the force, was taken to the burn unit at Akron Children’s Hospital after the 2005 Ford Crown Victoria Interceptor was hit at high speed at 1:08 a.m., and its gasoline tank exploded, police said. Linert, who managed to get out of the car himself, suffered burns over 30 to 40 percent of his body.

City Prosecutor Jay Macejko said Foutz registered a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.279, which is more than three times higher than the legal driving limit of 0.08. Foutz faces one to five years in prison if convicted of the charge for which she was indicted.

Also indicted were three men charged in the Nov. 18 murder of James Dow on the city’s North Side. Charged with the aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping of Dow are Edward Taylor II, 19, of Hudson Avenue; Aaron Sherrod, also known as George Sherrod, 21, of Stockbridge, Ga.; and Michael W. Lee, 20, of Cordova Avenue.

Dow, 28, of South Lakeview Avenue, was found dead in the basement of 145 Thornton Ave., his feet bound with tape. Police also found a revolver and shotgun at the crime scene.

The three suspects charged with killing Dow are also charged with felonious assault with a firearm against Emanuel Bunkley on the same day. Bunkley, 26, of Lora Avenue, was shot in the right hip in what he told police was an attempted robbery by three suspects wearing black hoodies near an Elm Street convenience store. All charges against the three defendants carry firearm specifications.