METRO DIGEST: Pizza boxes cause apartment fire

Pizza boxes cause apartment fire

YOUNGSTOWN

Pizza boxes left on a lighted stovetop caused $15,000 in structure damage and $5,000 in content damage at a Brandywine Apartment complex at 3200 Canfield Road, Battalion Chief Rich Russo said.

Youngstown firefighters responded to the call at 3:44 p.m. Sunday and were able to contain the flames to one unit. There was water damage to the unit below.

Several apartment dwellers were treated for smoke inhalation, but no one was taken to the hospital.

Russo said the unit’s resident left pizza boxes on the stove then accidentally bumped a button, turning the stove on and setting the boxes on fire. The flames later spread to the kitchen cupboards above.

“It could have gotten pretty nasty,” Russo said adding that crews were on the scene for a little over an hour.

Train strikes, kills man in E. Palestine

EAST PALESTINE

East Palestine police are investigating the death of a 31-year-old man hit by a train New Year’s Day.

The man was hit just before 3 a.m. Saturday by an eastbound Norfolk-Southern Freight train near the Market Street crossing, according to a press release.

The fire department and EMS also responded to the scene.

The train was rerouted to another set of tracks and caused minimal delays.

Police have not released the name of the man as they are still working to notify family.

Officers said Sunday night they do not know why the man was on the tracks.

Man dies after police Taser him

CLEVELAND

A 40-year-old Cleveland man is dead after police used a Taser to subdue him after a traffic stop.

A police spokesman told The Plain Dealer that when officers stopped Rodney Brown Sr. on Friday night, he “became uncooperative and combative.”

Sgt. Keith Campbell said Brown ran from police and resisted arrest when officers caught up with him, so they stunned Brown with a Taser.

The newspaper reports Sunday that paramedics were called, which is routine after a Taser is used. Brown appeared to suffer from cardiac arrest and was taken to a hospital.

Car strikes man in New Castle melee

NEW CASTLE, PA.

A fight that broke out in New Castle, Pa., on Saturday morning involving a dozen people resulted in injuries that sent a man to the hospital. Police said they will file a charge of aggravated assault.

The victim, Kyle Ray Williams, 26, of Huntsville, Pa., was hit deliberately by a car, pinned beneath its undercarriage and dragged for several dozen feet before he was able to free himself, police said. The suspect’s vehicle quickly left the scene.

Williams was rushed to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, where he underwent emergency surgery. He suffered internal chest and back injuries as well as severe face and head lacerations and is expected to survive, according to the police report.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fight in which several other participants allegedly were armed with clubs and pipes. Two other people, one of whom suffered a broken nose, received medical treatment after the fight.

Dean Lee Pitts, 21, of Hillsville, Pa., was arrested at the scene on a charge of drunken and disorderly conduct. He was cited and released. More criminal arrests are pending, police said.

Anyone with information about the fight is asked to contact the Pennsylvania State Police in New Castle at 724-598-2211.

Wire and Vindicator staff reports