Girl facing arson charge

Girl facing arson charge

YOUNGSTOWN — A 12-year-old South Side girl accused of setting a fire in her house Sunday night was taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center to face a charge of aggravated arson. The girl’s mother told police that a pile of clothes was ignited in a bathroom at 425 W. Warren Ave. at 8:45 p.m. Occupants extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived, reports show. The girl told police that she wanted to burn the house down. Four children and five adults were in the house. No injuries were reported. Damage was set at $200.

Stadium renovations

GIRARD — School officials have announced that renovations to Arrowhead Stadium will begin today. The stadium complex, including the track and the fieldhouse, will be closed to the public effective immediately. Renovations will include replacement of the track, a new turf field, a new lighting system, and a new parking lot on the visitors’ side of the stadium. The improvements are the first phase of a two-phase renovation program.

Man reports robbery

LIBERTY — A 52-year-old Youngstown man told police he was robbed while staying at a Belmont Avenue motel. According to police reports, the man told officers he had been “partying” with a woman, whose first name he did not know, for a good portion of the day Saturday. The woman, he said, returned to his motel room in the 4000 block of Belmont with two men in the evening, forced their way into the room and took $600 from him. The man told officers one of the attackers was carrying a gun. Reports say the trio fled on foot after taking the money.

Crash victim ‘critical’

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Walter Conner, 74, of Independence Lane, New Castle, remained in critical condition Monday at St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he was taken Saturday after a crash on state Route 108 in Hickory Township. Patty J. Conner, 69, same address, was pronounced dead at Jameson Hospital after the crash.

Woman sought in theft

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Police have a warrant for a woman who’s charged with theft from the Red Apple convenience store on Wilmington Road.

Jennifer Lynn Berkebile, 24, of Mercer Street in New Castle, is accused of taking $228 from the store at 9:35 p.m. Sunday.

A clerk at the store told police that Berkebile, a former store employee, came in and asked for the manager.

When told he wasn’t there, she said: “I’m going to rob this place,” the clerk told police. She opened the Lottery drawer and took the cash, a police report says.

Police said a security tape shows her opening the drawer.