Beiersdorfer dies

Beiersdorfer dies

YOUNGSTOWN

Ray Beiersdorfer, a Youngstown State University distinguished professor of geology and an environmental activist, has died.

Beiersdorfer had a heart attack last month and had been hospitalized in critical condition.

YSU hosted a tribute to Beiersdorfer Oct. 5 where people gathered to honor him.

His death was announced today on the Facebook page of his wife, Susie.

She thanked everyone for the love and support through a difficult time.

Suspect surrenders

BOardman

A suspect associated with a theft at Plaza Donuts on Boardman-Canfield Road on Sept. 22 turned himself in Wednesday morning, according to police reports.

Bernard Solic, 78, of Boardman, confessed to breaking into Plaza Donuts and stealing money.

Detective Richard Romeo, who made the arrest, arranged for Solic to come to the station rather than filing an arrest warrant.

“I knew where he was. ... I believed he would be cooperative,” Romeo said.

Romeo said that Solic does not have a criminal history and confirmed that Solic has patronized the store before.

Solic was charged with breaking and entering and was able to post bond. Plaza Donuts had no comment.

2 injured in crash

NEW SPRINGFIELD

A head-on crash about 3 p.m. Thursday on South Avenue Extension in Springfield Township left two people hospitalized with serious injuries.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, a minivan, driven by Kimberly Burkey, 40, of Columbiana, was southbound on South Avenue when she went left of center and struck a pickup truck driven by Randy Egnatz, 54, of Campbell, who was northbound on South. After the collision, both vehicles went off the west side of the roadway before coming to rest.

Egnatz, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected through the rear window of his vehicle and was transported by helicopter to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. Burkey, also not wearing a seat belt, was extricated from her vehicle by mechanical means and also transported to St. Elizabeth Youngstown, troopers said.

Traffic was backed up after officials closed a portion of South Avenue until the road was reopened about 6 p.m. The crash remains under investigation, OSHP troopers said.

Dog attacked

AUSTINTOWN

A woman walking her golden retriever along Bainbridge Street early Tuesday morning reported her dog was attacked by a loose pit bull.

The woman was not injured, but her dog sustained cuts and scratches during the attack. The dog was taken to an emergency veterinary clinic in Weathersfield Township.

The woman pointed police to the pit bull’s owner, who reportedly lives in the 2400 block of Bainbridge Street. The owner told police the pit bull – described as a brown and white pit and bulldog mix – was leashed outside the home but broke loose.

The owner assisted officers in catching the pit bull. Officers cited the dog’s owner, according to the report.

Dollar General robbery

YOUNGSTOWN

Reports said a clerk at a McGuffey Road Dollar General store was pistol whipped during a robbery Wednesday night.

Police were called to the store about 9 p.m. where reports said the clerk told officers three men dressed in black came inside demanding money. One of the men had a gun, reports said.

The man with the gun hit the clerk in the head, and the three jumped over the counter, taking the drawer from the cash register and several packs of cigars.

Police found three packs of cigars in the parking lot, reports said.

Reports said another employee of the East Side store told police a second robber also had a gun.

The clerk was treated by paramedics for a cut in the center of her head.

Probation violation

YOUNGSTOWN

A Boardman woman who was sentenced to nine months in prison in November for duct-taping her son to a chair has been rearrested, after being released from prison early, on a probation violation.

Susan Malysa, 34, was booked into the Mahoning County jail Wednesday by the Adult Parole Authority. There is no word yet on what her probation violation is.

Malysa was sentenced to prison by Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum but was granted early release in February and placed on three years’ probation.

She was charged in June 2017 for duct-taping her 12-year-old son to a chair while she took another child swimming.

A relative alerted police after she went to check on him and found him in the basement with duct tape over his mouth and his arms and legs secured to the chair.

Injured in fight

WARREN

A man suffered a serious cut to his chin in a fight outside of the Horseshoe Bar about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday.

The man, 23, said people in the bar bought shots for him and his friends, but one of his friends was thrown out, so they all left.

But one of the guys buying shots got angry at his friend and came toward the victim with a box cutter. He lowered his chin to avoid being cut in the neck.

His girlfriend told police when she saw the victim later, he was “covered in blood.” They went to St. Joseph Warren Hospital for treatment. The victim went to the police station the next afternoon to report the assault.

Phone reported stolen

WARREN

A man said he was robbed at gunpoint of his iPhone at 1:30 a.m. Thursday in the 400 block of Mahoning Avenue Northwest while emptying cat litter.

The 19-year-old victim said he saw a male in the courtyard of his apartment complex. The male said he locked himself out of his apartment. He asked to use the victim’s phone and dialed several numbers, then pulled a handgun out of his waist band and said: “This is mine now,” reports said. He ran south toward the nearby Warren City Hall. The victim went to his grandmother’s house and called 911.

The suspect was wearing a red shirt and black shorts with “football” written on them and red and black shoes.

Not-guilty plea

WEST FARMINGTON

Johanna C. Fillinger, 22, of Leffingwell Drive in Orwell was arraigned Tuesday in Newton Falls Municipal Court on child endangering after she was revived from an apparent overdose at a home on West Main Street in West Farmington on Monday. She pleaded not guilty, and bond of $2,500 was set.

A report from the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office said when a deputy arrived for the 4:38 p.m. call, ambulance personnel were treating Fillinger, who was in a bathtub. They administered the opiate-reversal drug naloxone, but she was not coherent. The officer discovered Fillinger’s 1-month-old child in a bed and called for an ambulance because its breathing was shallow.

The baby was taken to a Geauga County hospital to be checked and was later released to its grandmother.