METRO DIGEST || Elderly woman dies after found in filthy home

Elderly woman dies

ST. CLAIR

A concerned neighbor alerted St. Clair Township police in Columbiana County to a home on South Meadowbrook Circle on Wednesday.

Inside, they found a woman, 95, clinging to life surrounded by mounds of rotting food, a dead animal carcass and roaches and mice. Police described the scene as “inhumane.”

She later died at a local hospital.

The police chief told 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, that officers have been to the home in the past, but hadn’t been able to get inside.

A neighbor said he helped the woman with outdoor chores, but she never invited him inside.

The county’s director of job and family services says isolation among elderly people is common and presents many challenges.

“If the adult is resistant, doesn’t want to comply or cooperate or even talk to us, there is not much we can do, and it is sad,” said JFS Director Eileen Dray-Bardon said.

Armed robbery

WARREN

A man, 19, of Newton Falls, said he was robbed at gunpoint at 1:50 p.m. Thursday at the corner of Nevada Avenue and Ward Street Northwest.

He said he was driving west on West Market Street when he recognized a male walking on Nevada and went back to speak to him.

Another male with that man pulled out a handgun and held it to the victim’s neck, demanding money.

The victim said as he drove away the suspect reached inside the car and took his phone from his lap.

Armed robberies also were reported on Southwest Boulevard Southwest Monday and at the corner of Nevada Avenue and West Market on Jan. 5.

NAACP will review key school issues

YOUNGSTOWN

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youngstown Branch will review key issues facing city school students, families and the community and how the organization’s interaction with Krish Mohip, Youngstown School’s CEO, has developed over his first six months on the job.

The branch will have a news conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday at its offices in the Cobbins Building, 1350 Fifth Ave., Suite 202. These issues will be addressed: maintaining open lines of communication; ensuring the human and civil rights of schoolchildren, particularly those with disabilities; and holding Mohip accountable for the success of all students in specific academic and social areas.

Water meter charges

CAMPBELL

Pamela Gurd, 45, of Campbell was arraigned Friday in Campbell Municipal Court after police say she tampered with a city water meter.

She faces misdemeanor charges of tampering and criminal damaging, along with two felony theft charges.

Police believe Gurd broke the meter at a Neoka Drive home in order to steal several thousand dollars worth of water.

She posted her $2,500 bond and will appear in court Friday for a preliminary hearing.