METRO DIGEST || Military Appreciation

Military Appreciation

NORTH JACKSON

Armed Forces personnel will be honored at Jackson-Milton’s Military Appreciation Night at 6:35 p.m. Friday at the J-M Football Stadium, 10748 Mahoning Ave. The Vietnam Memorial Ceremony also will take place. The annual ceremony has been going on for years and includes a moment of reflection with members of American Legion Post 737. The names of Jackson-Milton students killed in Vietnam will be read, Pastor Jack Acri of First Federated Church of North Jackson will give a reading, and taps will be played, followed by a three-volley salute.

Current service members and veterans get into the football game for free, and will be escorted onto the field for a special ceremony. Each service member will sign in at the gate as he or she enters.

Domestic-violence case

BOARDMAN

Husam Al-Masandeh will be arraigned at 5:30 p.m. today in Mahoning County Area Court here on a domestic-violence charge.

Township police responded to reports of a domestic dispute by a neighbor on Southwoods Avenue early Wednesday morning.

Al-Masandeh, 31, was visibly intoxicated when police arrived, according to reports.

The victim told police she and Al-Masandeh were arguing after the victim’s sister alleged that Al-Masandeh propositioned her. After the argument, Al-Masandeh entered the victim’s bedroom and tried to wake her. He “was trying to do something sexual” and, when she refused, he grabbed her by the hair, spit in her face and clawed at her face, according to the victim. The victim then pushed Al-Masandeh off her and yelled for help.

Police reported that her lip was red and swollen.

Wednesday storms

A line of strong thunderstorms was reported at 4:44 p.m. Wednesday in northern Trumbull County from Kinsman to Newton Falls, moving at 40 mph. According to Trumbull County 911, a couple of trees came down and broke four utility poles in Kinsman just north of the square where state Routes 5 and 7 come together. There were also a few trees down in Gustavus and Vernon township, officials reported.

In Youngstown, Shady Run Road near Midlothian Boulevard was closed after flooding that trapped at least one car.

As of 9:40 p.m., there were 83 Ohio Edison customers without power in Columbiana County, 71 in Mahoning County and 229 in Trumbull County, which was hardest hit by the storm.

The line of storms also was expected to impact Columbiana, Boardman, Campbell, Hubbard, Cortland and Vienna, but police departments reported very few storm-related calls.

Theft reported at Lowe’s

BOARDMAN

Township police responded to reports of theft Tuesday night at Lowe’s on Doral Drive. Lowe’s employee Anthony Jesko told police that on Aug. 14, a quick-change artist scammed several Lowe’s cashiers using a $100 bill then left on foot. Jesko said the suspect used the same scam at several Lowe’s stores in Cleveland.

Jesko also told police a different suspect stole merchandise on Aug. 19, and also took merchandise from the Lowe’s in Hermitage Tuesday evening and has robbed the New Castle Lowe’s. Jesko told police he found the profile of the second suspect on Facebook.

Police logged surveillance footage of both incidents.

Hearing set for Rensel

WARREN

An Oct. 17 hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court was set Wednesday for prosecutors and defense counsel to discuss the results of a psychiatric evaluation to be carried out on former Warren resident James C. Rensel, 60, who has spent the past 25 years in prison for rape. The evaluation is to help Judge W. Wyatt McKay determine what sex-offender registration requirements to impose on Rensel, who is due to be released from prison Sept. 17. Rensel served the maximum sentence for raping a girl, 9, in 1993, in Trumbull County. He will get one of three classifications: sexual predator, habitual sex offender or sexually oriented offender.

Arraignment set

WARREN

James W. Chapman Jr., 30, of Glenwood Avenue in Youngstown and Haymaker Avenue in Warren, was arraigned Tuesday in Warren Municipal Court on a charge of receiving stolen property after police found him to have been driving a stolen car late Monday on West Market Street.

An officer saw a Chevy Suburban at the Sunoco gas station and discovered that it was reported stolen earlier Monday. No one was in the driver’s seat, but Chapman was standing nearby. He denied it was his vehicle but didn’t answer when an officer asked where his vehicle was. The officer later viewed gas station surveillance video and determined Chapman was the driver. Officers found the steering column on the vehicle was “peeled,” and it was being started with a screwdriver, but Chapman said he had bought it that day.

Chapman was arrested Monday night. A not-guilty plea was entered for him, and he was released after posting $5,000 bond.