No free lunch

BOARDMAN — As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and it was a hard lesson to learn for a Brookfield Avenue man.

Police were called about 10 a.m. Thursday to Boardman Sparkle, Market Street, where a store employee said a man took a bottle of vodka and a frozen dinner from the store without paying.

A police officer recognized the man in a store surveillance video as Ryan Carter, 27, of Brookfield Avenue, and police when to Carter's home. They found the empty food box and a bottle cap outside the house. The rear door was open but no one answered police calls.

They entered and found Carter hiding in the basement with an empty vodka bottle nearby. He struggled with police and kicked and thrashed once inside the cruiser. He also is accused of kicking a police officer who was trying to secure him.

Carter was charged with assaulting a police officer, vandalism, theft, resisting arrest and obstructing offical business. His preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday.