Prosecutor: Charges to be filed for lead contamination

TOLEDO AP) — An Ohio city is filing criminal charges against owners of lead-contaminated homes where people, including children, continue to live despite orders to vacate.

Toledo housing prosecutors say they’ll file first-degree misdemeanor charges against three property owners Friday. The penalty is up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson, a Democrat, said Thursday she told prosecutors to be more aggressive in an effort to prevent children from being exposed to lead. The Ohio Department of Health published earlier this month a list of unsafe homes that included 27 properties in Toledo.

The Blade newspaper reports that the mayor will also seek an injunction against some landlords to force them to stop renting homes until lead hazards are removed.