Ex-chef faces charges


January 15, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

Ex-chef faces charges

BROOKFIELD

A former chef at a Niles restaurant faces felony theft charges after police said he stole jewelry, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, reported.

Daimer Cescon, former chef at D’Vino in the basement of the former Alberini’s in Niles, was to appear in Eastern District Court in Brookfield today for a preliminary hearing on two charges of felony theft.

Police say Cescon took thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry from a Kinsman residence. The residence belongs to a family who took Cescon in after the restaurant closed, the report said.

Cescon pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Battling fire in Warren

WARREN

Firefighters responded to a house fire in the 2400 block of Willow Drive Southwest at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

No other information was immediately available, as crews were still working to extinguish the blaze.

Police probe shooting

YOUNGSTOWN

City police are investigating a shooting on the North Side on Wednesday night after a man reported that he was shot in the rear while walking down the street.

Police responded to the 200 block of Victoria Street to investigate sometime after 6 p.m. after the man went to an area hospital with a gunshot wound.

The man told police that as he was walking, he felt a burning sensation in his backside and realized he had been shot.

His injuries are not life-threatening, police said.

Charged in bank fraud

YOUNGSTOWN

Federal authorities arrested a Howland business owner on Wednesday after they said he cheated a bank out of more than $2.5 million, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, reported. Shaukat Sindhu, 55, who authorities say owns several gas stations, was arrested by U.S. Marshals on a bank-fraud charge.

The FBI alleges in an affidavit that Sindhu and several others reduced or eliminated the principle owed on the mortgages for several gas stations through a bank-fraud scheme, the report said.

The affidavit lists six gas stations involved in the scheme, with addresses in Niles, Warren, Ellsworth, Youngstown, New Middletown and Girard.

Sidhu is in the Mahoning County jail.