Gunfire reported

Gunfire reported

YOUNGSTOWN

Police said no one was injured after an exchange of gunfire about 4:45 p.m. Monday on the East Side.

Police were called to the 1500 block of Himrod Avenue, where a woman told them she had driven her son to a home in the 1900 block of Weston Avenue to remove some things from a home he had been staying in with his ex-girlfriend.

While there, the woman’s son got in an argument with his ex-girlfriend’s mother and they returned to Himrod, followed by two white vehicles.

The woman said several people in the vehicles got out with guns and opened fire. Police said they found no shell casings nor were any homes hit by gunfire, but a witness told police they saw the woman’s son fire back at the people in the vehicles before they drove away.

The woman’s son left before police came, reports said.

Pills found in car

YOUNGSTOWN

Reports said officers Monday found 90 pills inside a car during a traffic stop on the North Side.

Members of the vice squad and the Community Police Unit pulled over a car about 2:20 p.m. driven by Daniel J. Lindsey, 24, of Harmon Avenue, for an improper turn.

Reports said a records check showed Lindsey has a suspended license and three open warrants from municipal court.

When asked if he had anything illegal, Lindsey told officers he had some pills in the car’s center console, reports said. Reports said the pills were found in nine separate packs with 10 pills per pack. The pills were an opiate-based painkiller.

Lindsey was arrested on the warrants, driving under suspension and possession of drugs. He was booked into the Mahoning County jail.

Investigating 2 thefts

LIBERTY

Police are investigating two incidents of theft Sunday at Walmart on Goldie Road.

A 74-year-old woman told police she was loading groceries into her car shortly after 2 p.m. when a man, whom she described as a tall, thin white male, jumped out of the passenger seat of a car and grabbed her purse out of her hand, a police report states.

The woman reported chasing the man before he jumped back into the silver car, which was driven by a white woman with tattoos, and fled southbound onto Goldie and then Hadley Avenue.

Also on Sunday, a 56-year-old Walmart employee told police a man took her hoodie while she was stocking items on a shelf nearby at about 4 p.m.

The hoodie had a driver’s license and a debit card in the pocket, the woman reported.

Facing firearm charge

AUSTINTOWN

Police charged a Lowellville man with improper handling of a firearm when an officer on foot patrol spotted a gun on the passenger seat.

While on foot patrol early Sunday in the parking lot on South Four Mile Run Road, officer Todd Schuller saw a man sleeping in the front driver seat of his car with a black handgun next to him. Schuller ordered the man from his vehicle at gunpoint.

The suspect, identified as Brandon Jones, 24, of McGuffey Road, said the gun did not belong to him. Police charged Jones with improper handling of a firearm.

Birder to lead walk

MERCER, PA.

The Mercer County Conservation District will welcome birder Kim Springer, who will lead a walk through the woods of Munnell Run Farm from 5 to 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday.

The focus of the walk will be spotting wildlife or wildlife tracks. Springer will help identify birds and attempt to bring birds to guests using calls.

Participants are urged to take a camera and binoculars and wear layered clothing and boots.

Registration is required by Monday by calling 724-662-2242 and asking for Jacqueline McCullough or Larissa Cassano.

Cost is $5 per person and is due at the beginning of class. Families with more than five members have a reduced rate of $20. Participants will meet at the pig barn at the farm, at 24 Avalon Court, Suite 300.

Threatening emojis crossed line, chief says

GREENVILLE, PA.

Hempfield Township’s Police Chief says Maurice Briggs crossed the line when he sent several threatening emojis through a Facebook message.

The Mercer District Attorney says the messages were sent just four days after a search at Briggs’ South Second Street apartment netted suspected crack cocaine, heroin, pills and cash, according to a report by 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

According to court records, the emojis include caricatures of guns and knives pointed at pigs, skulls, syringes, money and pills.

Legal expert Matthew Mangino says this is crossing a line. “It would be the same as if he drew a picture of a gun pointed at a police officer and tacked it on his door. The intent is to intimidate that witness.”

The criminal complaint says the emojis are a clear attempt to harass and terrorize the police chief, who will be a witness in a criminal case against Briggs.

Briggs also is accused of sending a Facebook friend request to the chief’s wife.

The 31-year-old, who moved from Youngstown to Greenville, was convicted in 2003 of carrying a concealed weapon in Ohio.