Barking dog warns of fire

Barking dog warns of fire

NEW SPRINGFIELD

Two people were alerted by their dog and escaped when their house in the 4100 block of East Pine Lake Road caught fire just before 1 a.m. Friday.

The home was a total loss, so the residents will stay with family members, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindictor’s broadcast partner.

The smoke detectors were going off, but the couple was awakened by the dog barking.

Sex offender arrested

FARRELL, Pa.

A convicted Mercer County sex offender was arrested after police said he tried to entice a 3-year-old girl from a front yard into his pickup truck.

Bond is set at $50,000 for Gary Lee Zimmerman, 73, of Findley Township, who is charged with attempting to lure a child.

The girl’s 9-year-old sister stopped her from walking to the truck, and then Zimmerman threw a stuffed animal toward the girls, police said.

An adult called the children back inside, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

Zimmerman was charged with indecent assault on a minor before this incident, and has been on house arrest. He is to appear in court May 9.

Man held in robberies

WEST MIDDLESEX, pa.

Police arrested a man who was the suspect Friday in Ohio and Pennsylvania robberies. Gary Morton, 45, was arrested after police say he robbed a Circle K on Main Street in West Middlesex Friday morning.

Liberty Township police were also searching for Morton in Sunday’s Dollar General robbery, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. Circle K employees stated a man with a gun in his waistband came in and threatened to shoot if they didn’t give him money.

Morton faces an aggravated robbery charge in Girard Municipal Court in the Liberty robbery. He’s being held in the Mercer County Jail on charges of robbery, theft, assault and making terroristic threats.