Registered sex offender stopped in Boardman school lot

Staff report

BOARDMAN

An Austintown registered sex offender is being investigated by township police after he was caught in the parking lot of St. Charles School on Wednesday.

Officers gave Dustin Lohr, 35, of London Drive, a warning for criminal trespassing, pending further investigation, and a citation for driving under suspension. He was arraigned Thursday and has a pretrial hearing at 4 p.m. Nov. 11 in Mahoning County Area Court here.

An officer noticed Lohr acting suspiciously while on the Catholic school’s property, located on Westview Drive, according to the report, and initiated a traffic stop on Boardman-Poland Road at Market Street.

A records check reportedly revealed Lohr was a sexual offender of a victim under 16 years of age and that his license was suspended from an operating a vehicle while impaired incident. The check also revealed Lohr had an active protection order issued against him from individuals whose last-known address was located directly across from St. Charles School. He advised they now live in Florida and police verified the juvenile under the protection order was not enrolled at the school.

Lohr said he was driving to Gordon Food Service Marketplace to pick up supplies for his job as a chef at a Hubbard business. When asked why he was on the school’s property, he reportedly replied he was playing Pokemon GO “and thought that was just a church.”

The suspect told police he had work privileges and produced the court-issued paperwork.

The paperwork reportedly confirmed he was granted only permission to travel to and from his place of work and specifically stated not to stop anywhere in between.