METRO DIGEST || Bring pets in or face charges

Too cold for pets

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County Dog Warden Dianne Fry reminds pet owners to make sure they keep their pets indoors for the next couple of days as a major cold spell is expected to hit the area.

Fry said citations will be issued to animal owners who do not tether their dogs properly or have proper shelter for them, and officials at Animal Charity will also be notified.

Anyone with questions or needing to report violations can call the dog warden’s office at 330 740-2205 or Animal Charity at 330 788-1064, ext. 17.

Toddler murder case investigated

WARREN

Arthur A. Harper, 44, charged with the murder of his common-law wife’s son, will be investocated a second time to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. The first evaluation showed Harper was competent to stand trial. Judge Peter Kontos authorized the second evaluation Monday during a hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. Harper is charged with murder, child endangering and felonious assault in the Nov. 30, 2015, death of Russell Cottrill, 3. He called 911 at 6:38 p.m. Nov. 28, 2015, to report Russell was unresponsive. The boy died two days later in a Cleveland hospital after suffering what a Warren police detective called “severe head trauma.”

Child porn charges

CLEVELAND

A federal grand jury has indicted a 19-year-old Warren resident on child pornography charges, the U.S. attorney said. David Hafely was charged with receiving, distributing, transporting and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct during late 2015 and early this year.

The indictment charges that, on or about Jan. 5, 2016, Hafely possessed an electronic tablet containing child pornography.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cleveland office and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Robber sentenced

WARREN

Sade N. Tibbs, 20, of Robert Avenue and Iowa Street, was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in the Trumbull County jail and five years’ probation after pleading guilty to burglary and grand theft in an October 2015 Brookfield home-invasion robbery.

Tibbs was led away to begin serving her jail sentence Wednesday after her hearing in common pleas court.

She was one of three people charged in a plot to rob a Syme Street man. Tibbs communicated with the victim on Facebook, and the victim allowed her into his house, police said.

Police believe Tibbs’ job was to keep the victim busy in his bedroom so Lamar Q. Holmes Jr., 20, of Ninth Street in Struthers, and Pabalo Valentin Jr., 20, of Redford, Mich., could break in with a knife and steal from the victim.

Dollar store robbed

WARREN

An employee at Family Dollar, 1139 W. Market St., was robbed by a man holding a gun at 9:58 p.m. Tuesday. The victim said the suspect ordered the employee to hand over money. The employee pulled out the register drawer and placed it on the counter. The suspect grabbed the cash and fled.

Advent Taize prayer

VILLA MARIA, PA.

An Advent Taize prayer planned at 7:30 p.m. today in Magnificat Chapel at Villa Maria Education and Spirituality Center has been canceled because of the weather. The next Taize prayer will be March 30.

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