Niles man indicted in theft case involving state. Sen. Cafaro's office

WARREN — Jonathan M. Wike Jr. has been indicted in Trumbull County on charges of grand theft and theft from a person of a protected class involving his former job as district director for State Sen Capri Cafaro.

Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, fired Wike after allegations surfaced that Wike had improperly cashed checks on an office account totaling $4,316.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigated.

Police reports obtained by The Vindicator from Cortland, Howland and Vienna show that Wike of Niles is suspected of cashing at least seven bad checks, totaling $4,316, at Seven Seventeen Credit Union branches in those three communities in late June.

There could be more checks, according to what a Seven Seventeen official told Vienna police.

Cafaro fired Wike on July 8. She said she hired Wike in 2008 to be her district director, operating out of a Warren office.