Pizza store robbed

Pizza store robbed

Boardman

Police were called to East of Chicago Pizza, Boardman-Poland Road, about 7:30 p.m. Sunday after employees reported two men entered the store with a gun and demanded money.

Chief Jack Nichols said police believe this crime and one at Cocca’s Pizza, Market Street, last Wednesday night were committed by the same people, based on the masked robbers’ descriptions.

At East of Chicago Pizza, a male and a female employee told police they were in the back of the store when the men entered with a black semiautomatic handgun and said, “We don’t want to hurt you. Just give us the money.”

The female employee said she opened the register for the men before she and her co-worker were ordered to the floor. The men took an undisclosed amount from the cash drawer and fled on foot. Police unsuccessfully tracked the suspects north of the business to Crestline Place.

Arson hearing

YOUNGSTOWN

A preliminary hearing will be Wednesday in Youngstown Municipal Court for Christopher Marko, 34, of Ashley Avenue, who is charged with aggravated arson and burglary in two incidents on the same day.

Marko is accused of starting a fire in the garage of a neighbor’s house at 512 Ashley on the West Side on Aug. 5, 2009, that caused $100,000 damage to the garage and two cars.

That same day, Marko is accused of breaking into a home on Brockway Avenue and stealing prescription pills.

Marko’s blood was found at the scene, apparently left there when he cut himself entering a window, Youngstown police said.

Bond for both charges is set at $150,000.

Fliers not from village

MCDONALD

Village Mayor Glenn Holmes says mailings that went out to village residents over the weekend regarding utility rates did not come from village officials. The mailings invite residents to a meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at the McDonald High School Auditorium to learn how residents can reduce their utility rates. The flier came from a private company, Holmes said.

Fatal accident probed

YOUNGSTOWN

Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the weekend accident that killed a Hermitage, Pa. man.

Leroy Ganzy, 44, was traveling through Hubbard Township on Interstate 80 in the wrong direction early Sunday when his 2000 Dodge sedan was involved in a head-on collision with a semi truck driven by a 44-year-old Pennsylvania man. Ganzy was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the semi and a passenger in the semi truck were not injured.

Presentation on parks

Howland

Learn about significant features America’s park systems preserve from the past at 6:30 p.m. March 17 at the Howland Branch of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, 9095 E. Market St.

Jeffrey Eling, the Howland Library branch manager, will present the program about state and national parks through visual examples of geological, natural, and human histories. The program is free. No reservations are required.