METRO DIGEST || Boardman cops seek suspect who resisted arrest

Cops seek suspect who resisted arrest

BOARDMAN

Township police are seeking a suspect who an officer said resisted arrest and assaulted him after attempting to steal from a store.

A township detective went to Dollar General, 859 E. Midlothian Blvd., on Wednesday for an ongoing investigation, then saw a man try to steal merchandise.

When the detective approached the man, he moved toward the front door. The detective said he placed his hand on the man’s chest, at which point the suspect pushed against the officer, then pushed him backward. He then fled the store.

Officers were able to track down the owner of the vehicle in which the suspect escaped. The owner said the suspect had borrowed the car earlier in the day. The owner gave officers the man’s name, but no arrest had been made as of Friday.

Crash on Route 82

WARREN

A traffic accident stopped traffic eastbound on state Route 82 in Warren for a time Friday night.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said it received a call about the crash at 8:53 p.m. Friday and an OSHP trooper was involved with the crash, which occurred east of Elm Road.

The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, said three vehicles were involved and that OSPH said traffic was blocked for miles in both directions late Friday.

Wanted man arrested

VIENNA

U.S. Marshals arrested a man wanted by Vienna Township police in New Jersey this week.

Craig F. Hoffman was arrested Thursday night, according to The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV. He was wanted on charges of domestic dispute and aggravated drug possession.

According to Vindicator files, Hoffman and Brooke Hoffman struggled over a gun in June 2012, with Craig Hoffman receiving one gunshot to his thigh and shoulder and Brooke Hoffman having a bullet graze the back of her head.

Vienna police went into the couple’s home during that incident and found firearms, powdered and crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia, digital scales and items used to manufacture drugs.

Facing drug charges

YOUNGSTOWN

Police arrested Haybert Williams, 59, of Lakewood Avenue, at about 2:45 p.m. Thursday on drug charges after they said they found four bags in his coat pocket that had cocaine residue in them.

According to reports, Williams was driving a truck that had expired registration that was pulled over at Williamson and Hensley avenues on the South Side. He told police he did not have the registration for the truck and gave them permission to search him.

Besides the cocaine, police also found a crack pipe on him, reports said. Williams told officers the residue in the bags was crack cocaine, the report states. He was taken to the Mahoning County jail on charges of possession of drugs/cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Water main fixed

YOUNGSTOWN

A water main break that brought city water department crews out into frigid temperatures Thursday is now fixed, the department’s chief engineer said Friday.

A crew was called out for the repair on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley at about 3 p.m. Thursday. A team of about six people continued to work well into the night.

The break did not impact services at the mission, a representative said. The break did, however, create icy road conditions in the area.

Increased patrols for OSU-Oregon game

BOARDMAN

The township police department will step up patrols Monday during the college football national championship game involving the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The department will supplement its regular patrols with high-visibility enforcement patrols both before and after the game Monday.

Police say they will target violators for aggressive and distracted driving offenses, including operating a vehicle while impaired violations.

Police urge people to designate a sober driver if they plan to consume alcohol, or call a taxi.

They also ask people to call the police if they see suspected drunken drivers on the road, and remind everyone to wear their seat belts.

Parking ban lifted

STRUTHERS

The city lifted its emergency parking ban Friday. The city had implemented the ban to allow workers to clear snow from streets and thoroughfares.

Man shot in foot

WARREN

A 20-year-old Austintown man suffered a gunshot to the foot after being approached by males in a car Thursday night at Austin Avenue near Oak Street Southwest.

The man said a gray Chevrolet Impala pulled up with three males inside at 8:45 p.m., so he ran, then heard four gunshots, one of which hit him, he said.

Police observed a bullet hole in the back of his ankle. The bullet exited the bottom of his foot. Police interviewed him at ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital, where he received treatment.

Bond increased in firearm-violation case

WARREN

Justin S. Del Cruz, 20, of Woodview Avenue Southwest remains in the Trumbull County jail after a judge increased his bond to $99,000 in a New Year’s Eve incident involving a gun being pointed at a Warren police officer.

Judge Thomas Gysegem of Warren Municipal Court on Thursday hiked Del Cruz’s bond from $7,500. Del Cruz pleaded not guilty Jan. 2 to being a felon in possession of a firearm, discharging firearms and aggravated menacing.

A Warren police officer said he observed Del Cruz firing a shotgun into the air four times at 11:15 p.m. New Year’s Eve. The officer pointed his service revolver at Del Cruz and yelled, “Police. Get on the ground,” but the man lowered the gun and momentarily “pointed it at me,” the officer said.

Del Cruz surrendered later, after running into a house.

Indicted in threats to president, family

CLEVELAND

A federal grand jury has indicted an inmate at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown on charges he threatened to kill, kidnap or injure President Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle, and other members of the first family, the U.S. attorney said.

The indictment was issued Wednesday against Michael D. Vaughn II, 26, who purportedly mailed the threatening letters last February.

The case was investigated by the Toledo office of the U.S. Secret Service.

Vaughn is serving a 21-year prison term for involuntary manslaughter, robbery and possession of a deadly weapon under detention, with a projected Dec. 19, 2031, release on the state charges.

Acquitted of charges

YOUNGSTOWN

A jury acquitted a 38-year-old man, who is now an inmate at the Trumbull Correctional Institution, of three counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery.

Jermain Bunn was acquitted of the offenses, purportedly committed against a woman in her late 30s in Youngstown on March 27, 2009, Friday afternoon after a weeklong trial before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Judge Sweeney will rule separately Monday on two counts of being a felon with a loaded gun on the same day as the other purported offenses.

Bunn is serving seven years on unrelated felonious assault, theft and drug-possession charges at TCI, from which he is scheduled to be released April 6, 2016.

Coroner: Cocaine contributed to death

YOUNGSTOWN

A Mahoning County coroner’s report issued Friday lists cocaine toxicity as a contributing factor in the death by restraint asphyxia of a 49-year-old Struthers man in Coitsville police custody.

Garry Robbins was pronounced dead May 22, 2013, in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he was transported by Clemente-McKay Ambulance Inc.

The coroner’s report said the prone manner in which Robbins was transported, while strapped to a cot, violated the ambulance company’s written patient transport protocols.

Robbins’ estate sued the police department and ambulance company Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Dr. Joseph Ohr, deputy coroner, said the delay in issuance of the report stemmed from the complexity of the case, which required a thorough and time-consuming investigation.