METRO DIGEST || Free car seat safety checks today

Free car-seat checks offered at fire station

BOARDMAN

Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley and Safe Kids Mahoning Valley are offering free car-seat safety checks from 12:30 to 3 p.m. today at Boardman Township Fire Department, 136 Boardman-Poland Road.

“Child restraints and seat belts, when installed and used properly, can prevent injuries and save lives,” said Gia Ramsey, injury prevention specialist at Akron Children’s.

Child safety-seat guidelines are updated frequently based on continuous safety studies. Technicians will be available to discuss these guidelines and provide literature.

Mission needs toys for annual giveaway

WARREN

The Warren Family Mission is in need of new unwrapped toys for children and teens for its annual toy giveaway Saturday. The Mission is anticipating giving gifts to more than 1,500 preregistered children.

Donations can be dropped off at its location at 2671 Youngstown-Warren Road S.E. Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and at 361 Elm Road NE from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Early release denied

YOUNGSTOWN

For the third time, a county judge has denied early release to a man he sentenced to four years in prison for breaking a woman’s eye socket while pistol-whipping her in front of her 8-year-old daughter Aug. 26, 2011.

Judge Lou A. D’Apolito Mahoning County Common Pleas Court this week denied the request by Gerald Hardaway, 32, of Ravenwood Avenue, to be released from the Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield. The judge sentenced Hardaway in May 2012 after Hardaway pleaded guilty as charged to felonious assault.

The victim and the prosecutor opposed early release for Hardaway, who fired two shots at the woman as she left the scene of the attack.

Teen chased after stop

YOUNGSTOWN

Police arrested a teenager for obstruction of justice and for having no driver’s license after he ran from a police officer in a parking lot in the 2500 block of Glenwood Avenue about 4:35 p.m. Thursday.

Reports said an officer tried to pull over a car driven by Edward Robinson Jr., 18, of Youngstown, for having no visible registration when Robinson stopped and ran away. He was chased through several backyards before the officer caught him in the 700 block of Parkwood Avenue on the South Side.

Reports said Robinson told the officer he ran because he has no valid driver’s license. He was taken to the Mahoning County jail.

Man faces drug charges in Campbell

CAMPBELL

Campbell police arrested a 41-year-old New Castle, Pa., man on a charge of possession of drugs, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Police pulled over an SUV on Coitsville Road for following another vehicle too closely about 1:45 p.m. Thursday. The driver of the SUV — identified as 41-year-old Ronald Eugene Clark — could not produce his driver’s license, registration or proof of insurance, and police discovered his license had been suspended.

Clark told police he had been following the vehicle in front of him because he didn’t want to lose contact. He also admitted having a cigarlike cigarette containing marijuana in his hat.

Clark is charged with possession of drugs and driving under suspension and was cited for the traffic violation.

Lottery employee put on unpaid leave

YOUNGSTOWN

The Ohio Lottery employee accused of taking tickets and facing a theft in office charge has now been placed on unpaid leave.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery Commission said in an email that David Dragelevich, 38, of Poland, was placed on unpaid leave Friday, a day after a Mahoning County grand jury indicted him on a charge of theft in office. He is accused of taking between $1,000 and $7,500 in lottery tickets between Sept. 13 and 24.

The spokeswoman also said that Dragelevich worked out of the lottery’s Canton office. Thursday, prosecutors said he had worked at the Youngstown office.