METRO DIGEST || Free picnic today in Mercer

Free picnic today

MERCER, PA.

Brandy Springs Park is the site for the second annual free Constitutional Picnic at 11 a.m. today. The band Us4Now will provide entertainment. There also will be a basket auction, 50/50 raffle and children’s activities. Participants are encouraged to bring items that are no longer wanted and g potluck items to share.

Man sentenced

BOARDMAN

A township man was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm and body armor, according to information released Friday by the Department of Justice.

Akira O. Jackson, 33, pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a ballistic vest.

He previously was convicted of conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and an additional conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Hollingsworth after an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and township police.

Man faces charges

LIBERTY

Police arrested a man in the parking lot of a Speedway Gas Station on Belmont Avenue on Wednesday on charges of possession of heroin, possession of drug-abuse instruments and possession of drug paraphernalia. Police said Travis Taylor, 38, of Jamestown, Pa., had a cooking spoon, a hypodermic needle and a small amount of suspected heroin. He will be arraigned Tuesday in Girard Municipal Court.

Unfit conditions found

STRUTHERS

City officials have contacted Mahoning County Children Services about unfit conditions at a home discovered after a drug raid. The raid was part of a six-month drug-trafficking investigation.

Struthers police and members of the Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force raided a home on Creed Street on a search warrant Thursday morning, a task-force representative said.

Officers discovered suspected marijuana, drug paraphernalia and prescription medications in a home that was in “deplorable” condition, the representative said. A teenager and an infant were left in the home with no running water, the task force reports says. Police have not yet filed charges.

Possession charge

LIBERTY

A traffic stop Wednesday afternoon led to an arrest on a charge of possession of cocaine. A police report states that officers stopped a vehicle at the Interstate 80 east ramp of state Route 193 for failing to use a turn signal.

According to the report, one of the vehicle’s passengers, Anthony Bielik, 51, of Youngstown, had a Social Security card with suspected cocaine residue and a cut straw with suspected cocaine residue. He will be arraigned Tuesday in Girard Municipal Court.

Traffic-stop arrest

STRUTHERS

A traffic stop Thursday evening led to an arrest of a Youngstown woman on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to a police report, an officer charged Latefa Stanley, 22, with failure to comply with the signal of a police officer after she did not immediately pull over.

An officer found a pipe and bowl with suspected marijuana residue after eventually stopping Stanley at Midlothian Boulevard and Port Drive. He will be arraigned Wednesday in Struthers Municipal Court.

Pa. man faces charges

GIRARD

Police officers investigating a crash Thursday evening ended up arresting a Pennsylvania man on several charges.

A police report states Jason Wagner, 28, of Venetia, Pa., is charged with resisting arrest, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. Police said Wagner hit multiple legally parked cars, lost control of his vehicle and ended up swerving into a front lawn on East Wilson Avenue.

Wagner tried to flee the scene on foot toward the 300 block of East Liberty Street but was caught by an officer. He refused to take a breath-analysis test. Wagner will appear on the charges Tuesday in Girard Municipal Court.