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YPD arrests 4 on felony drug charges
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police arrested four people Wednesday on felony drug charges, including two while serving a search warrant.
Taken into custody about 3:55 p.m. at a 3511 Kreiger Lane home on charges of tampering with evidence and possession of drug paraphernalia was Heather Church, 28, who reports said lived at the home; and Robert Curran, 43, who was arrested on charges of possession of heroin, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. Reports listed him as the owner of the home.
Members of the vice squad and the Community Police Unit served a warrant at the home investigating drug activity. Reports said police had to force the door open when they arrived because no one would answer, and found Church dumping suspected drugs down a toilet.
Inside a safe in the home, police found three bags of suspected heroin, two bags of suspected crack cocaine and $242 cash. Also in the home was a small amount of suspected marijuana, three digital scales, a needle and spoon, seven pills and a .22-caliber rifle.
Arrested about 6:25 p.m. on two counts of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia was Karyn Pachuta, 34, of East Midlothian Boulevard, after she was pulled over at West Marion Avenue near Market Street because of an expired registration on her vehicle.
Reports said Pachuta told police she did not have a license and she had some pills with her that were not in a bottle but that she had a prescription for them. She was taken into custody for driving under suspension, and when police searched her car, they found three plastic bags that had a total of 14 pills. In one of the bags there was also a razor for cutting the pills and a straw for snorting them, reports said.
About 1 p.m. Anthony Lombardo, 42, was arrested on a charge of possession of crack cocaine. Reports said he was driving on Hillman Avenue when he abruptly turned around after seeing a police car and pulled into a drive on West Evergreen Avenue. Reports said officers followed him there and the homeowners told police they did not know Lombardo.
Lombardo gave police permission to search his car, and inside a gym bag on the front seat, police found a crack pipe and two doses of suspected crack cocaine, reports said.
All of those arrested were taken to the Mahoning County jail and are expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.