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Police investigate 2 shootings
YOUNGSTOWN
Police are investigating two separate shootings that left two occupied vehicles struck by bullets over the weekend.
According to police reports, a 61-year-old city man was driving a rental car on Jacobs Road about 2:30 a.m. Monday. The man stopped at a stop sign at the intersection of Jacobs and Liberty roads when another car pulled alongside him and a man pointed a gun out the window.
The 61-year-old driver took off at a high rate of speed with the other car, containing three young white males, chasing him across a nearby bridge. The driver heard three shots fired at his car as he sped away.
The shooting victim ultimately crashed into a pole along Jacobs Road.
The car containing the three men sped away.
Police determined the rental car had been hit by at least two bullets before striking the pole. The back window and driver’s side rear window were both shattered.
Police also are investigating a shooting on the city’s West Side on Friday.
According to police, a 23-year-old Austintown man went to the Millet Street home of a 31-year-old man to whom he owed money, but informed the man that he did have the $20 he owed him.
The Millet Street man demanded the Austintown man’s cellphone instead, but the Austintown man refused to hand the phone over.
The two men began to argue, and another man came out of the house carrying a gun. The Austintown man tried to drive away, but was held by the hair and punched in the mouth by the man he owes.
Reports say the Austintown man ultimately was able to break free and drive away, but heard several gunshots as he drove from the Millet Street address.
The victim found a bullet hole in the bumper of his car. Police found one spent shell casing in front of the Millet Street home.
No arrests have been made.