METRO DIGEST | Kids to plant grapes on South Side

Kids to plant grapes

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University’s Biological Science Department, along with a dozen inner-city children, will be planting 100 Concord grape plants on property converted into a vineyard from 9 a.m. until noon Sunday on the corner of West Ravenwood and Idlewood avenues on the South Side to teach children how to make jellies and jams.

Grants from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, University of Michigan, and Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. made the “Youth Greening Project” possible. Contact Mason Carratt at 234-855-0259 or 330-942-2232 for information.

Lying to cops

BAZETTA

Officers arrested a woman, accusing her of trying to dispose of a drug instrument and lying to officers. According to the police report, Tracy Zduniak, 42, of Niles Cortland Road, Warren, called 911 when she found her friend Anthony Mazi, 22, of Brookwood Street in Warren, lying unconscious on the floor at a residence on North Park Avenue Extension, on Thursday night. Zduniak told officers she put the needle she found with Mazi in three different locations before they were able to find it, reports said. Officers arrested Zduniak for obstructing official business and issued Mazi a summons for having drugs and drug-abuse instruments.

Domestic violence

BOARDMAN

A Youngstown man is charged with misdemeanor domestic violence after police said he beat a woman in the parking lot of a Market Street business last week. Robert Hornbuckle, 54, of East Ravenwood Drive, also is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He is scheduled to appear in Mahoning County Area Court here Tuesday, after he surrendered to police on warrants Thursday.

The charges stem from the allegation that Hornbuckle showed up at the victim’s place of work, tried to pull her out of her vehicle, punched her in the head multiple times and threatened to kill her. He drove away in her car after she escaped, according to a police report. The victim told police she recently moved out of a shared home with Hornbuckle due to previous domestic-violence incidents. He posted bond after his arrest, police said.

Raid nets drugs, arrest

NILES

Police raided a home Friday in the Carnegie Arms Apartments at 2008 Youll St., seizing 3 ounces of suspected heroin and arresting Jonathan M. Barnes Jr. Police took Barnes, 24, to the Trumbull County Jail on a charge of drug trafficking. He’ll be arraigned Monday in Niles Municipal Court. Niles Police Department, with help from the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force and financial help from Simco Management Group, which owns the apartments, carried out the raid, said Detective Jim Robbins of the NPD. Simco paid for undercover detectives to carry out surveillance that led up to the arrest, Robbins said. Police recovered a handgun, suspected marijuana, scales, packaging materials, drug-abuse instruments and Barnes’ vehicle.

Vehicle hits building

WARREN

The accelerator on Robert James’ 1999 Jeep got stuck as James tried to park in a space at the Waterstone Apartments on Arbor Avenue Southeast on Friday morning, causing the vehicle to crash into the building. The 9:29 a.m. incident caused heavy damage to the building, but James was not injured, city police said. James lives in an upstairs apartment in the complex.

Girard drug abuse

GIRARD

Two are facing drug charges through Girard Municipal Court. According to the police report, Girard officers received complaints of drug abuse happening at the East Liberty Street home and began surveillance.

After an undercover officer successfully bought drugs from the home the Street Crimes Unit searched the home of Joseph O’Neil, 46, of East Liberty Street, on a warrant and found two crack pipes, reports said. Online court records show John Bruce is also facing charges through Girard resulting from the same search. O’Neil faces a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. His case is set for arraignment Tuesday in Girard Municipal Court. Bruce is facing a felony drug trafficking charge. He was arraigned Thursday in Girard Municipal Court and will appear June 1 for a pretrial hearing. A judge set his bond at $10,000.

Seat-belt campaign

BOARDMAN

The township police department will again take part in the national “Click It or Ticket” seat-belt-enforcement campaign, it announced in a news release. During the annual initiative, which begins Monday, participating agencies will crack down on seat-belt usage violations. Officers are prepared to cite anyone who is observed not wearing a seat belt, according to the release. Throughout the campaign, the department will supplement its regular patrols with high-visibility enforcement patrols. In addition to seat-belt use, patrols will target offenses such as aggressive driving, speed, distracted driving and operating a vehicle while impaired. Funding for additional patrols comes from an Ohio Department of Public Safety Ohio Traffic Safety Office federal traffic safety grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Teen faces charges

YOUNGSTOWN

Police have arrested an 18-year-old Youngstown woman on charges she robbed and stabbed a city taxi driver. Detectives say Desiree Byrd is in the Mahoning County jail without bond on charges of aggravated robbery and attempted murder, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. The driver says after picking up a woman and two men on Ivanhoe Avenue, the woman stabbed him in the stomach, and one of the men pulled a gun. The victim says after he managed to wrestle the gun away, the suspects fled. Police say they are working to identify other suspects. Byrd is expected to be arraigned in Youngstown Municipal Court next week.