METRO DIGEST || Boardman BOE to meet this afternoon

School board to meet

BOARDMAN

Boardman school board has scheduled a special board meeting to discuss personnel at 4 p.m. today in the conference room at Boardman Center Intermediate School.

Motorcyclist injured

YOUNGSTOWN

City police say a motorcycle driver suffered severe injuries when his motorcycle crashed on state Route 62 near the Himrod Expressway in Youngstown. The one-vehicle crash occurred just before 9:30 p.m. causing police to temporarily close part of Himrod, reported 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

Court won’t hear case

YOUNGSTOWN

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear the case of a man sentenced to 28 years to life in prison for his role in the robbery of a Belmont Avenue restaurant where an accomplice was shot and killed by a city police officer who was working security.

Nathaniel Dumas, 41, was convicted of murder and aggravated robbery charges for the death of Warren V. Wright, 32, who was shot in April of 2011 inside the Galaxy Seafood Restaurant on the North Side by officer Michael Walker, who has since retired, during a robbery attempt.

Dumas drove the getaway van and also helped plan the robbery, prosecutors said. He was charged under a section of the law that held him responsible for Wright’s death because of his participation and planning of the crime in which Wright was killed.

Death appears to be OD

HOWLAND

Police say a man found dead at the Capri Motel on East Market Street on Wednesday appears to have died of a drug overdose. The man checked into the motel June 28 or June 29, but nobody had seen him since then, a detective said.The man’s identity has not been released. Police were called to the hotel a little before noon.

Charged with corruption

NILES

Heather L. Cope, 35, of Atlantic Street Northeast and Laird Avenue is charged with felony corrupting another with drugs after the father of her 16-year-old nephew told police Cope and her husband provided the boy with cocaine and fentanyl Friday.

Cope was booked into the Trumbull County jail Monday on the felony charge. She is in the county jail in lieu of $35,000 bond after her arraignment Wednesday. A not-guilty plea was entered.

Police were called to Trumbull Memorial Hospital at 7:30 a.m. Friday regarding a fight in the hospital parking lot, where a witness said the boy’s father assaulted Cope.

First Cope and the boy’s mother fought, then the boy’s father slammed Cope’s face into a vehicle, causing a minor injury to Cope’s nose. Cope said she had brought her husband and the boy to the hospital for treatment of drug overdoses.

Pleads guilty to spitting

WARREN

Patrick W. McCombs, 27, of Wimber Avenue pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of harassment with a bodily substance and two counts of assault for spitting at two Braceville Township police officers while they were arresting him last July.

McCombs will be sentenced in about five weeks after the Trumbull County Adult Probation Department conducts a pre-sentence investigation into his background. He could get more than six years in prison.

Mammograms offered

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mercy Health-Youngstown Mobile Mammogram van is offering mammograms at several locations around the Mahoning Valley this month: Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Canfield Primary Care, 3660 Stutz Drive; Monday from 8 a.m. to noon at Columbiana County Library, 332 N. Middle St., and 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Struthers Primary Care, 53 State St.; Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Cortland Primary Care, 421 S. High St., and 1 to 3 p.m. at St. Joe’s at the Mall, 5555 Youngstown-Warren Road, Niles; and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Vienna Primary Care, 341 Youngstown-Kingsville Road, and 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Church Hill Primary Care, 4694 Belmont Ave., Liberty.

A physician’s prescription and insurance card are needed; call 330-480-2654 to make an appointment.

Arraigned in assault

WARREN

Alonzo Ball, 56, of Porter Street Northeast was arraigned Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court on felony assault, accused of kicking a police officer in the leg who was trying to arrest him.

A not-guilty plea was entered, and bond of $3,500 was set. He also pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct.

Police responded to the Burger King on Main Avenue Southeast at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday after employees said Ball was threatening them and pounding in the windows after employees locked the door.

It was the fourth time in several hours police had been called regarding Ball, police said. The three previous calls dealt with disturbances involving Ball and other people.

Police spotted Ball walking north on Main Street and handcuffed him on a charge of disorderly conduct while intoxicated. Ball told the officer he would “send his boys from Detroit to kill him” and kicked the officer.

Not-guilty burglary plea

WARREN

A not-guilty plea was entered Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court for Melzia J. Sugick, 53, of Plaza Avenue Northeast to burglary after he was accused of breaking into the apartment of a neighbor, a 68-year-old woman. After his arrest, Sugick also started to show signs of a drug overdose and was taken to St. Joseph Warren Hospital for treatment. He was taken to the Trumbull County jail from the hospital Tuesday. He remains in jail without eligibility to make bond.

Accused of knife threat

NILES

Derek M. Davies, 19, of Emma Street was arraigned Wednesday in Niles Municipal Court on a felonious assault charge accused of threatening several people with a utility knife May 27 at a neighbor’s house on Emma Street. The charge was filed against Davies on May 30. He was arrested on a warrant early Saturday. No plea was required; bond was set at $7,500.

3 in raid are arraigned

WARREN

Three men charged with three counts each of drug trafficking in a Vermont Street Northwest raid Monday were arraigned Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court. Not-guilty pleas were entered. They are Eric D. Dotson Jr., 59, of 230 Vermont Ave. and Linda Drive Northwest; Corey T. Yates, 25, of Adams Avenue Northwest; and Darrell L. Williams, 26, of Starlite Drive Northwest.

Dotson is not eligible to make bond; and bond for Yates and Williams was set at $150,000.

While police were executing a search warrant at the home, eight people who arrived at the home were arrested on warrants and three others were released on investigation regarding drug paraphernalia.

During the raid, Warren police recovered suspected cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, $9,527 in cash, handguns, syringes and ammunition.

Arraigned on charges

NILES

Steven R. Jackson, 41, of New Orleans and Antioch, Calif., was arraigned Monday in Niles Municipal Court on charges of gross sexual imposition and unlawful restraint involving a woman, 49, of Warren. The victim reportedly had a minor injury in the Friday afternoon incident in the Eastwood Mall area on Youngstown Road. No plea was entered, and bond of $7,500 was set. He pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor unlawful restraint. Jackson’s 9-year-old son was placed with a friend of Jackson’s until the boy’s mother could come from Louisiana to get him.

Block watch to meet

YOUNGSTOWN

The Four Square Block Watch will host its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. today at Greater Friendship Baptist Church, 646 Lakewood Ave.

Arrested after chase

YOUNGSTOWN

Reports said a man arrested about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday after a chase on the East Side is on probation for an aggravated robbery charge in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Officers also said they found a loaded .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun inside the car driven by Amontae Traylor, 24, of Sunshine Avenue, who is in the county jail on charges of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm, fleeing and eluding and aggravated menacing.

Police were called to Shehy Street and Medina Avenue by a man who said he was being followed by someone who fired a shot at him the day before. When police arrived, the suspect, later identified as Traylor, drove away and led police on a chase, at one point driving against the flow of traffic on Lincoln Park Drive.