METRO DIGEST || Skimmers at the pump

Skimmers at the pump

YOUNGSTOWN

With credit-card skimmers having been installed by criminals in some Ohio gasoline pumps, Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham is urging anyone who notices suspicious activity at a gasoline pump to notify the station attendant, the police or the county auditor’s office.

Consumers can avoid the skimmers and the potential they pose for fraudulent charges on their credit-card statements by paying cash for fuel or by going inside the station to pay by credit card, rather than inserting a credit card into the pump, he added.

So far, gas-pump skimmers have been found in Ohio only in the southwestern part of the state. The auditor’s office’s weight and measures division certifies the accuracy of the county’s fuel pumps.

Rink ready for skating

YOUNGSTOWN

Mill Creek MetroParks staff said the ice-skating rink at Wick Recreation Area on the city’s West Side is ready for skating.

The rink that was installed over the sand volleyball courts is not supported by a refrigeration system, making it weather-dependent for operation. Due to the mild winter conditions this year, this is the first opportunity residents will have to use the outdoor skating facility.

Skaters need to bring their own skates. There is no charge for ice skating.

For details on hours of operation, visit MillCreekMetroParks.org. or call Mill Creek MetroParks at 330-702-3000.

Failed armed robbery

WARREN

A Mahoning Avenue store that thwarted an armed robbery in late December had a failed armed robbery again Monday morning.

Two employees at 960 Mahoning Quick Shop, 960 Mahoning Ave. NW, were confronted by a male with a gun at 11:05 a.m. in front of the store.

Once inside, the would-be robber ordered a male employee at the register to open it, but he said he didn’t know how, and the suspect fled without getting anything.

The female employee said she thought she saw an orange tip on the gun, indicating that it could be a toy rather than a real gun.

Two masked males entered the same store Dec. 29, one of them pointing two guns in the store owner’s face and demanding money. However, the owner put his hand under the counter and the two males took off running.

Police later questioned two juveniles at a nearby house.

Employee is robbed

WARREN

An employee at the Subway restaurant at 1604 Parkman Road Northwest reported being robbed at knifepoint at 5:45 p.m. Sunday by a man who first ordered a sandwich.

The clerk rang up the order and asked him for $6.50, but the man pulled out a folding pocket knife known as a butterfly knife, and pointed it toward her, saying “I’m sorry, I need this.”

He then took about $20 from a tip jar and fled. He was in his 20s and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and blue scarf covering his mouth and nose.

LaBrae bomb threat

WARREN

Students in grades three to 12 in the LaBrae school system returned to their building at about 2:20 p.m. Tuesday after being evacuated for an 11 a.m. bomb threat.

Superintendent A.J. Calderone said the district received a “credible threat” and evacuated close to 1,000 students and staff to another building while investigators with dogs searched and found nothing suspicious.

Students in the elementary school in a separate building did not evacuate, Calderone said. Students are expected to resume a normal schedule today, Calderone said.