Boardman trustees OK spending for trunk shields

Boardman trustees OK spending for truck shields

BOARDMAN — Township trustees voted this morning to spend about $5,000 to buy protective shields for the trunks of 18 Ford Crown Victoria police vehicles.

The shields, made of Kevlar, cost about $271 each. Chief Patrick Berarducci said the shield is to protect items kept in the trunk from piercing the trunks rear wall and going into the gas tank.

The department inspected its cruisers after last weekend’s crash in Austintown that left a police officer there critically injured. His cruiser’s gas tank exploded when a woman accused of drunken driving crashed into him.