Officer placed on administrative leave

Officer placed on administrative leave

lowellville

A part-time village police officer is on unpaid administrative leave after being indicted last week on multiple charges.

Jeffrey Christy, 31, Salt Springs Road, Niles, was indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury on charges of gross sexual imposition, two counts of menacing by stalking and public indecency.

Authorities accused him of forced sexual activity with one woman and then stalkingher and a second woman.

Chief William Vance said Christy was placed on administrative leave after being indicted. The leave will continue pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Vance said that Christy has been with the department for at least a year.

Christy is scheduled to appear in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court today for a pretrial hearing.

Columbiana man charged in standoff

columbiana

A city man was to be charged with aggravated menacing after a roughly three-hour standoff with police.

City Chief Tim Gladis said police received a call about 4 p.m. Monday from a woman who said she was threatened by her neighbor who had brandished a rifle and then gone inside his home at 40 Duquesne St.

When police arrived, they could see the man, later identified as Brian Kyser, 36, inside the house with a rifle. He wouldn’t come out, Gladis said.

Police called the Columbiana County crisis-response team and set up a perimeter, evacuating some nearby residents.

Negotiators from the crisis response team spoke with Kyser, eventually persuading him to put down the rifle and come out of the house, the chief said.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured. Kyser was transported to a hospital for a mental evaluation and was to be served with the charge after that examination is complete, Gladis said.

Felons with guns

CLEVELAND

A federal grand jury has indicted three Mahoning Valley residents on charges of being felons with guns and a fourth on a charge of lying to a gun dealer, the U.S. attorney announced last week.

Charged with being felons in illegal possession of firearms were Ronnie “Sweets” Smith, also known as Omar Hughes, 59, and Anthony Kaczmark, 30, both of Youngstown, and Terry Walker, 24, of Warren. Walker also was charged with possessing an unregistered, sawed-off shotgun.

Shalinda Blackmon, 21, of Youngstown, was charged with falsely claiming to be the actual buyer of a 9mm pistol during a Feb. 2 transaction with a federally licensed firearms dealer in Austintown.

Police seek suspect accused of threats

YOUNGSTOWN

Police are looking for a man accused of threatening a woman with a gun over prescription drugs. The woman told police the man, whom she knows, came to her East Side home just before 9 a.m. Saturday asking for prescription drugs. She said he pointed a gun at her when she said she did not have any drugs.

The woman told police she slammed her door then heard glass breaking outside and gunshots fired to the rear of her house. She told police the man has a habit of harassing women in the area. No arrest was made.

Candidates forum

BOARDMAN

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown are co-hosting a forum with candidates for Mahoning County commissioner at 7 p.m. April 26 at Holiday Inn Boardman.

Invited to participate are Democrats David Ludt of Poland, the incumbent, and Carol Rimedio-Righetti, a Youngstown council member; and Republican Don Manning of North Lima.

Under rules set by the league, each candidate will have three minutes for opening statements and two minutes for closing statements. All candidates will be asked a series of questions by the moderator. Written questions from the audience also will be asked.

The event is free and open to the public.

Food donations

youngstown

Richard Brown United Methodist Church gives food away monthly to residents on the North Side. During April, the church is participating in Alan Shawn Feinstein’s 13th annual $1 million giveaway to fight hunger. Donations can include cash, checks and food items (valued at $1 per item or pound). Donations can be sent to Richard Brown UMC, 1205 Elm St., Youngstown, Ohio 44505.

Feinstein’s past challenges to fight hunger have raised a record $1 billion for more than 2,000 agencies nationwide.

Agencies report donations received during March and April that will go toward the Feinstein challenge. Feinstein will award agencies between $250 and $40,000, and the awards are proportionate to the amount that each agency receives.

Safety tower

alliance

Knox Township trustees will observe the installation of a safety tower that also will bring high-speed computer access to the area.

The trustees have entered into a lease with Ohio’s Multi-Agency Radio Communications System to erect a MARCS tower on the township property at 2895 Knox School Road, Alliance.

The 360-foot-tall tower will provide communication access to the state highway patrol, local law-enforcement agencies and local fire departments. A groundbreaking ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the tower.