METRO DIGEST || Judge’s car crushed in courthouse crash

Courthouse crash

WARREN

Police charged Rose M. Pruneski, 45, of Willow Creek Drive Southeast Friday with misdemeanor charges of failure to control and failure to stop after an accident in front of the Trumbull County Courthouse Thursday afternoon.

The sport utility vehicle Pruneski was driving hit a car parked parallel in front of the courthouse’s main entrance, which pushed it into the car in front. After hitting the car, the driver of the SUV backed up and drove away.

The first car, badly damaged, belonged to a defendant on trial at the courthouse. The two cars in front of it belonged to common pleas court judges. One of the judges’ cars was badly damaged. The other had minor damage.

Police used video recordings from the 2:09 p.m. mishap to identify the license plate number of the SUV. Pruneski told police she remembers driving downtown but doesn’t remember the crash. She also said she was on medication, police said. No test for drugs or alcohol was done on the woman because of the elapsed time since the accident, Merkel said.

Shooting arrest

YOUNGSTOWN

Police have arrested a 22-year-old East Judson Avenue man in the Nov. 23 shootings of a woman and her son in their Oakwood Avenue apartment on the West Side.

Sherrick C. Jackson was brought to the Mahoning County jail Friday afternoon from the Cuyahoga County jail. He is charged with two counts of attempted murder. An arrest warrant was issued for Jackson shortly after the shootings, which left Michelle E. Holmes, 50, and her son, Robert Shaffer, 29, both of Oakwood Avenue, with multiple gunshot wounds. They were in the intensive care unit at St. Elizabeth Health Center last weekend.

Shaffer was shot in the abdomen, both legs and possibly the foot, police said. Holmes was hit in the abdomen and shoulder.

3 charged in robbery

NEWTON FALLS

Three young Newton Falls men are charged with committing an armed robbery Tuesday night in the Newton Village Apartments on Ridge Road.

Police arrested Cody J. Turner, 19, of East Main Street, and Derrin L. Lough, 20, of Mahoning Court, Friday. They are in Trumbull County jail awaiting arraignment Monday in Newton Falls Municipal Court.

Turner is charged with complicity to aggravated robbery, and Lough is charged with aggravated robbery. A third man, Thomas A. Lemasters, 20, of West Jay Street, is still at large, but a charge of complicity to aggravated robbery was filed against him. Two people told Newton Falls police they were robbed at gunpoint and knew the men involved.

Youth leadership

YOUNGSTOWN

The community organizing group ACTION has received a $10,000 grant from the Walter E. Watson Charitable Trust to continue its work in youth leadership development.

ACTION Executive Director Rose Carter said the organization qualified because of its commitment to building future community leaders. ACTION will use the funding to facilitate its partnership with other community groups committed to the organization of a youth summit at Youngstown State University in April 2012.

The summit, known as the 2012 Youth Explosion, will empower youth to assume leadership roles in the community. Up to 500 youth are expected to participate in a series of workshops led by ACTION’s community partners.

Finance committee

WARREN

Warren City Council Finance Committee will meet at 3 p.m. Wednesday to begin discussions on the 2012 budget. Auditor David Griffing said earlier this week he expects to have a budget available for council members to review Monday. The city expects to have about the same amount of revenue available for its general fund in 2012 as it has this year, Griffing said. The general fund covers the biggest departments in the city, such as police, fire and operations.

Bankston sentenced

CLEVELAND

A 19-year-old Youngstown man has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, followed by three years’ probation, after pleading guilty to possessing an unregistered 12-gauge, sawed-off shotgun.

Freeman Bankston, of West Ravenwood Avenue, drew the sentence Wednesday from U. S. District Judge James S. Gwin for possessing the 14-inch gun with a six-inch barrel and no serial number on July 7.

In a separate criminal case, Bankston is set for a 9 a.m. Dec. 29 plea hearing on state burglary charges before Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. In that case he is charged with stealing items worth more than $8,000 from homes on Terrace, Homestead and Beechwood drives in Boardman in May and June.