Remains identified

Remains identified

WARREN

Investigators have identified human remains found in a Warren building last March.

Warren police said the body of Thomas L. Pickens was discovered behind the wall of an upstairs apartment at 540 E. Market St., according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. The coroner has ruled the death a homicide.

Pickens, who would have been 60, was never reported missing to authorities. His only known relatives were two children who are now deceased.

A contractor conducting an asbestos inspection in the building last March found the body hidden in a crawl space. Police estimate the body had been there at least five years.

Trial won’t have jury

WARREN

Royce Honaker, 63, will be tried by a judge without a jury Nov. 9 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in the 2013 shooting death of his wife in their Southington home. Judge Andrew Logan set the trial date Tuesday.

Honaker was sent to a state mental hospital in 2014 but returned to the county jail over the summer after he was deemed competent to stand trial. Another evaluation was conducted this spring, but the results are not public.

Police said Honaker called 911 on July 31, 2013, to say he had just killed his wife, Donna, 58, at their home on Countyline Turnpike Road.

Shot after arguing

YOUNGSTOWN

Police say a man who was found shot about 2:10 a.m. Tuesday at a 3200 Market St. gas station got into an argument with someone else right beforehand, Chief of Detectives Capt. Brad Blackburn said.

Police found a 28-year-old man hanging out of the door of a car in the parking lot. Reports said two employees of the station were trying to help him. The victim went to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

Cycle, car collide

NILES

The driver and passenger on a dirt bike were taken to the hospital Tuesday afternoon when the motorcycle collided with a car at state Route 46 and Third Street.

Police said the male motorcycle driver, 21, was riding on the sidewalk parallel to Route 46 with the female, 21, on the back at 4:20 p.m. Both are from Niles. The motorcycle entered the roadway without yielding and struck a car, ejecting both riders.

Charges of reckless operation, driving an off-road vehicle on the street and driving on a suspended license are pending against the motorcyclist. Niles police did not identify the two motorcycle riders.

Escapes from fire

WARREN

A woman and her dog escaped from her home at 2821 Highland Ave. in Warren Township thanks to a fire alarm.

The 3:36 a.m. fire Tuesday caused substantial smoke and heat damage throughout, said Kenneth Schick, township fire chief. It started in the master bathroom, but the cause still is under investigation.

Fire damages business

CAMPBELL

A fire at Pocono Logistics on Madison Street shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday caused $165,000 of damage, Fire Chief Nicholas Hrelec said. The department believes it started from a semi-truck parked inside the building. No injuries were reported.

Pleads not guilty

HUBBARD

Norman Graham, 58, of Farrell, Pa., entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of driving under the influence at his arraignment Tuesday in Girard Municipal Court. Graham’s preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 4.

Police arrested Norman Graham, 58, of Farrell, Pa., on Sunday evening on Interstate 80. A police report states that Graham left his car parked in the passing lane and he told an officer that the car was overheated. Police also cited Graham with operating a disabled vehicle.

Man pleads not guilty to domestic violence

CAMPBELL

Virgilio Rios, 25, of Campbell entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of domestic violence at his arraignment Tuesday in Campbell Municipal Court. Police arrested Rios on Monday. An 18-year-old woman told police that Rios kicked her in the back of the head and broke her phone near Jean Street.

Facing drug charges

BOARDMAN

A township man faces a felony charge after he overdosed on drugs. Cody Hartman, 21, of Oregon Trail, is charged with felony drug possession and misdemeanor counts of possession of drugs, drug-abuse instruments and drug paraphernalia after he was arrested on warrants at a West Boulevard apartment Monday.

The charges stem from a drug overdose Hartman reportedly suffered Sunday morning, to which police responded.