METRO DIGEST || Businesswoman threatened

Business threatened

YOUNGSTOWN

Police are investigating after a truck was found set on fire Tuesday morning at a business where a threatening letter had been left about two weeks before.

The pickup truck was found ablaze and gutted about 6:35 a.m. Tuesday in the 2700 block of Mount Vernon Avenue.

On July 24, police were called about 9:50 p.m. to the same address, where a 40-year-old woman told them someone left a note on the door that said she was not wanted. It made reference to the fact she is black and threatened to burn down her business.

Tuesday morning, the owner of the truck told police he had been staying at the business overnight because of threats, and he woke up when the truck was set on fire. Reports said there was no damage to the building.

Chief of Detective Capt. Brad Blackburn said detectives are investigating.

Candidate accused

CAMPBELL

A Youngstown man has accused a candidate for mayor of Campbell of assault. Matthew Gabel, 22, told police that Nicholas Phillips, 51, punched him and broke his jaw at Phillips’ Sycamore Drive home Aug. 5, a police report states.

Gabel is the boyfriend of Phillip’s wife’s daughter.

Phillips is running for mayor.

Phillips told police he struck Gabel in self-defense after Gabel tried to push his wife, a police report states.

New police chief

LOWELLVILLE

Village council voted unanimously to approve the hire of Richard Jamrosik as part-time interim police chief at a meeting Wednesday night.

Jamrosik will receive $21.34 per hour.

The former police chief, Ryan Bonacci, resigned in June.

“[Jamrosik] comes with a wealth of experience and will be a great addition to the department,” Mayor James Iudiciani said.

Boyfriend stabbed

YOUNGSTOWN

A Richmond Avenue woman is in the Mahoning County jail on a $100,000 bond after she was accused of stabbing her boyfriend at about 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Iesha Jones, 24, was arraigned Wednesday in municipal court before Judge Robert Milich on a charge of felonious assault.

Reports said officers called to the home found the 24-year-old victim covered in blood.

He told police he was arguing with Jones because he was leaving her and she stabbed him and then drove away toward McCartney Road.

The victim had a gash on his forearm and his chest and was treated at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

Reports said when police were at the home, Jones returned and she was screaming.

Reports said police found the knife used in the reported attack under a seat in her car.

Traffic delays

CANFIELD

There will be periods of stopped traffic for bridge work in Canfield between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. today and Friday and again Monday and Tuesday.

Ohio Department of Transportation crews will stop traffic for brief periods of time for a maximum of 15 minutes for bridge-beam replacement.

Those stopped periods of traffic will occur for traffic on state Route 11 southbound under the U.S. Route 224 bridge today and Friday. Similarly, the same will happen for traffic on Route 11 northbound under the bridge Monday and Tuesday.

This work is part of the $6.5 million project to replace and widen the 224 bridge over Route 11 as well as widening Raccoon Road, which recently was completed and reopened.

Tech theft

BOARDMAN

Township police are investigating a reported burglary at an Erskine Avenue residence.

The victim reported to police Tuesday that someone entered her house sometime since Monday night and stole two televisions, DVD player, satellite box, two gaming consoles and a laptop. The value of the missing items is estimated at more than $1,300.

Drive Sober kick-off

FOWLER

Trumbull County Safe Communities, in coordination with the Trumbull County OVI Task Force, Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, announces this year’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, which will take place from Aug. 21 through Sept. 7.

The event is a memorial OVI checkpoint honoring Timothy Hess, who died in July 2011 as a result of an impaired-driving-related crash.

Timothy’s father, William Hess, will be the guest speaker for the news event before the checkpoint.

A biography card with a picture of Timothy will be given out to drivers going through the checkpoint.

The kick-off will begin at 7 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of North-Mar Church, 3855 E. Market St., Warren.

Closed for festival

YOUNGSTOWN

The 2015 Spanish Heritage Festival in the city’s downtown will result in streets being closed between 6 a.m. today and 11 p.m. Saturday.

The streets are East Federal Street between Wick Avenue and Walnut Street, and Champion Street between Commerce and Boardman streets.

Domestic violence

YOUNGSTOWN

Police arrested two men in separate incidents Tuesday afternoon on domestic-violence charges.

At 1:10 p.m., Leon Edwards, 61, was arrested after his daughter said he chased her around with a butcher knife while the two argued at the daughter’s home in the 500 block of East Indianola Avenue.

At 5:10 p.m., police arrested James Cummings, 70, at a home in the 200 block of East Philadelphia Avenue after a woman there said he had been drinking all day and threatened her.

Reports said Cummings told police if they didn’t take him away he would hurt the woman, so he was arrested.

Both men were taken to the Mahoning County jail.

Felony suspect found

BOARDMAN

Township police Tuesday picked up a Youngstown man under indictment in Mahoning County for aggravated arson, arson and burglary.

Police arrested Rayshawn Gilmore, 25, after they responded to a domestic dispute at a South Avenue residence and discovered that he had active felony warrants through Mahoning and Columbiana counties.

Gilmore reportedly faces felony charges in Columbiana County for receiving stolen property, carrying a concealed weapon and having weapons while under disability.

He also faces misdemeanor charges there of obstructing official business and resisting arrest.

A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Gilmore in April on the other charges.