METRO digest

Man jumps into car, robs woman of $700

WARREN

A 34-year-old city woman said she was robbed by an armed man who entered her car while she was stopped at the intersection of Vine Avenue and Washington Street Northeast at 12:50 p.m. Wednesday

She said the man jumped into the passenger seat after reaching in and unlocking the door. He demanded, “What you got?” while pointing a handgun at her, she said. He dumped out her purse in the car, but found no money, then punched her in the stomach after she tried to cover up money in her shirt. She said he pulled her hand away and took the money, about $700, then ran away.

She said he was possibly in his early 20s wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt and black pants with a black and white handkerchief pulled over his face.

Facebook-threat dad enters not-guilty plea

WARREN

Alan M. Jordan, indicted on misdemeanor charges of telecommunications harassment and making false alarms connected to a Feb. 1 Facebook threat to commit a school massacre, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Warren Municipal Court.

Jordan, 33, of Laird Avenue Southeast, was initially charged with felony inducing panic, but a grand jury refused to indict on that.

Police said Jordan posted a Facebook message in which he said he was unhappy because his daughter, who attends one of the Warren K-8 schools, was “having some trouble at school with some little kids.” The post went on to tell other parents they need to control their kids or he would “make Sandy Hook look like a day at Disney.” Jordan has been free on bond since February.

Out on $10K bond

NILES

Nicholas A. Lucariello, 24, of Mason Street, was released from the Trumbull County jail after posting $10,000 bond Wednesday after being accused of assaulting and threatening his girlfriend earlier that day.

He pleaded not guilty in Niles Municipal Court on aggravated menacing, assault and felony robbery in a 2:13 a.m. incident on Robbins Avenue.

An officer encountered a woman, 20, of Howland, on Robbins Avenue screaming for help. She was bleeding above one eye, and the skin on her foot was scraped off and bleeding. She said Lucariello beat her up in the car, pulled her out by her hair, took $40 from her purse and threatened to have her killed, according to a police report.

Another officer arrested Lucariello driving a short time later. Ambulance personnel treated the victim at the scene.

Conserve-water order

HUBBARD

Officials are asking city residents to conserve water, as crews work to repair a ruptured water line. The break occurred Thursday morning at the city’s main transmission line. The water is safe to drink, Service Director Daniel Livingston said.

Flag-retirement pit

CHAMPION

The Trumbull County MetroParks now has a flag-retirement pit at Clarence Darrow MetroPark, thanks to an Eagle Scout project by Blaine Helmuth of Troop 4075. A dedication ceremony will be next week.

Burning flags is a dignified way to dispose of a flag that is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, according to the website of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The pit is made of stones and is located near the pavilion and parking lot.

Ashtabula County votes to rejoin TAG

JEFFERSON

The Ashtabula County commissioners voted Thursday to rejoin the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force. Ashtabula County voted to leave the group April 25 after learning that Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe had replaced Commander Jeff Orr with Tony Villanueva.

But Ashtabula County Commissioners Casey Kozlowski and Kathryn Whittington met with Monroe and two Trumbull County commissioners Wednesday and decided that “TAG should continue as the parties work through their differences,” according to a news release from the Ashtabula County commissioners.

Ex-chief faces charge

LEETONIA

John Soldano, 52, former village police chief, is charged with theft in office. An audit found money missing from the police department’s Care and Share Program and from its fund raising account, reported 21-WFMJ TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. The Care and Share program helps low-income families in the area during Christmas.

Soldano is accused of taking around $14,000 from those accounts between June 2013 and June 2015. Soldano served as Leetonia’s police chief from 1997 to 2015. He resigned that October.