Charged with illegal possession of firearm

Charged with illegal possession of firearm

YOUNGSTOWN

A city man was arrested this week on a federal charge of illegally possessing a .40-caliber pistol and ammunition, despite a previous cocaine-trafficking conviction.

Brian K. Bellard, 43, who is in federal detention, committed the offense in October, according to the federal grand jury indictment.

The case is being prosecuted by Jason M. Katz, a Youngstown-based assistant U.S. attorney, after an investigation by city police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Verizon to collect gifts for children in need

Verizon Wireless announced the kickoff of its Hope for the Holidays Toy Drive.

The drive will benefit Sojourner House in Youngstown and AWARE in Hermitage, Pa. With a simple donation, residents have a chance to impact the life of a child in need this holiday season.

Donations can be made through Thursday during regular business hours at participating Verizon stores. Donations for Sojourner House will be accepted at the Verizon stores at 650 Boardman-Poland Road, Boardman, and 5700 Youngstown-Warren Road, Niles. Donations for AWARE will be accepted at the Hermitage Verizon store at 3372 E. State St.

Donated gifts include items such as coloring books, crayons, board games, cars/trucks, dolls, action figures, stuffed animals, arts and crafts kits and G-rated DVDs. All donations must be new, packaged and unwrapped.

Probing bomb threat

BOARDMAN

Township police are investigating a bomb threat at a Southern Boulevard business.

Police responded to Southern Heat Exchange, 8397 Southern Blvd., late Thursday in reference to what employees believed was an explosive device placed behind the building, according to a police report.

The device, which later was determined to be fake, was described as a soda can with “protruding wires and electrical components” taped to it and placed in a parking lot.

A member of the Youngstown Police Department’s bomb squad took apart the device and confirmed that it did not represent a threat.

Service academy nominees to be honored

NILES

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, will host a breakfast at McMenamy’s, 325 Youngstown-Warren Road, on Sunday to honor this year’s class of nominees to U.S. military service academies. This year’s class includes nomination to the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., and the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.

The breakfast will be served at 10 a.m., and nominee introductions will take place at 10:45.