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Youngstown cops hit roadblock in pedestrian death
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Accident investigators have run into a roadblock in their investigation of the death of a pedestrian last month on the South Side.
Patrolman Brian Booksing of the Accident Investigation Unit said he has received no tips asking for help in locating a car that police think may have been in the area at the time of the death of 50-year-old Michelle Anne Bland.
Bland was killed Jan. 6 as she was walking in the roadway at Gibson and Mabel avenues about 6 p.m. Reports said Bland was struck and killed by a pickup truck belonging to the city wastewater department.
Investigators are looking for a maroon Pontiac Bonneville, with a light front end and dark back end, from 1988 to 1991 that had an oval sticker in the rear window.
Booksing said investigators need to speak to whoever was in the car because they may be important witnesses.
So far, no charges have been filed in the case. Investigators said Bland may have been walking in the roadway because the sidewalks were covered with snow.
Booksing said typically people call when officers ask for help, even if most of their tips don’t pan out. This time, he said, they have not received even one call.
“We’ll usually at least get something,” Booksing said.
Police said the man in the car stopped, talked to a few people at the scene, and left. Earlier, police had asked for help in locating another witness in the case and that witness stepped forward. But Booksing said they still need to speak to the man and woman who were in the car they are looking for.
Anyone with information can call the AIU at 330-742-8775 or 330-742-8946.
Bland’s death was the first traffic death in Youngstown. In 2015, the city recorded 12 traffic deaths.