Evaluation ordered for defendant

Staff report

youngstown

A competency evaluation has been ordered for a woman accused of killing a man who was walking on East Midlothian Boulevard in 2012.

Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ordered the evaluation for Barbara A. Pusser, 56, of Arden Boulevard, after lengthy talks with her lawyer Tuesday just before an evidence suppression hearing was to begin in her case.

Pusser was indicted by a grand jury for the charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, OVI, tampering with records and forgery in the Aug. 13, 2012, death of Robert D. Boak, 33, of Austintown.

The crash occurred about 11:30 p.m. on Midlothian Boulevard just west of Lake Park Road.

Troopers with the Canfield Barracks of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Pusser was driving eastbound on Midlothian when she hit Boak. Then, a Ford Taurus hit Boak and stopped immediately after making contact. Boak was pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Health Center, the patrol said.

Neither driver was injured.