Plea hearing postponed

Plea hearing postponed

CORTLAND

A plea hearing scheduled for Monday in Central District Court for Gary M. Mink, former Cortland police chief, to enter a guilty plea has been postponed to Nov. 19.

Mink, 62, of Cortland, is charged with failure to stop after an accident and failure to control his Jeep on state Route 46 in Bazetta Township near Tamer Win Golf Course on June 24. Visiting Judge David Fuhry is handling the case on assignment from the Ohio Supreme Court.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Mink’s vehicle entered a ditch and hit a culvert. Cortland police followed a mud trail to Mink’s house about two miles away.

4 cases of AFM in state

COLUMBIANA

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed four polio-like conditions in the state, one in the Mahoning Valley.

To date, Ohio Department of Health officials have confirmed four cases of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, in Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Mercer and Pickaway counties, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

ODH says all four cases were boys from age 1 to 13. The CDC says all four boys were hospitalized for the condition but no deaths have been reported.

According to the CDC, AFM is a rare neurological condition that affects the spinal cord and causes limb weakness. Medical experts say more than 90 percent of the confirmed cases occurred in children 18 years and younger.

Accused in beating

YOUNGSTOWN

Bond was set Monday at $45,000 for an East Midlothian Boulevard man accused of beating his girlfriend and breaking into her house Saturday.

Anthony Bonner, 37, was arraigned on charges of abduction, aggravated burglary and domestic violence. He is in the Mahoning County jail.

Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno said Bonner was in a car about 5:30 p.m. Saturday arguing on North Richview Avenue with the mother of their 3-year-old child when he drove off with her in the car and locked the doors. He eventually let her out, but not before beating her.

Bonner then forced his way into her West Side home where their child was and took the child with him until police caught him at his South Side home.

Warren solicitation case

WARREN

Dwane H. Boggs, 60, of Meadowbrook Avenue Southeast will be arraigned today on a charge he loitered to engage in solicitation Friday. Police were called to Perkins Park for a woman who said a man had tried to hit her with his pickup truck.

Boggs was located in his vehicle at nearby Mahoning Avenue at Monroe Street Northwest. He denied trying to hit anyone, but he admitted he had picked up a female and took her to the park because she flagged him down and offered sex for money.

After police issued Boggs a summons to appear in court, he was released.

Thefts at Family Dollar

WARREN

A woman suspected of stealing air fresheners from Family Dollar, 378 Elm Road NE, pushed a store employee against a door and left with three girls at 7:36 p.m. Sunday.

The clerk said it appeared one of the girls was trying to cause a distraction so the others could shoplift. The clerk said one of the girls put a blanket in her jacket.

After seeing the thefts, the clerk followed the woman around the store and saw air fresheners in her purse. The clerk told the woman to put them down, but the woman cursed and pushed her.

The four left in a gray Mercury sports utility vehicle. The clerk was not injured.

Pleas in stabbing case

WARREN

Sade Peterman, 18, of Douglas Street Northwest pleaded not guilty to felonious assault Monday in Warren Municipal Court, accused of stabbing her boyfriend, Jerrice S. Davis, 26, Friday afternoon.

Davis, of the same Douglas Street address, who was stabbed in the hand and shoulder, was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence after telling police he wrestled with Peterman over a knife and pushed her. He pleaded not guilty Monday and is in the county jail in lieu of $1,500 bond. Peterman’s bond is $5,000.

Police said when they arrived for the 2:15 p.m. call, they found Davis standing in the living room bleeding.

Police found Peterman upstairs in the hallway. When they her asked what happened, she said she couldn’t remember but later said she and Davis fought over another female calling Davis’ phone while Peterman was using it. Davis was taken to St. Joseph Warren Hospital, then released to the county jail at 6:20 p.m.

Fires at vacant houses

YOUNGSTOWN

City firefighters over the weekend answered fire calls at two vacant houses. A home at 145 S. Truesdale Ave. on the East Side was damaged in a fire that saw crews called out about 8:25 p.m. Saturday. About 8:15 p.m. Sunday, a garage at a 745 E. Florida Ave. home on the South Side was damaged.

Educational content

BOARDMAN

Boardman’s cable programming channel is going to start providing educational content, township Administrator Jason Loree explained at a trustee meeting Monday night.

In partnership with Boardman schools, the township plans to use cable franchise-fee funds for the creation of these segments.

“It’s good for the township in that it provides information and it also provides a key educational component for kids going into production,” Loree said.

The channel also allows the township to use a scroll across the bottom of the television screen for communicating with residents in an emergency. “It’s a win for the community, a win for the schools and a win for the kids mainly,” Loree said of the partnership.

Search adds to charges

BOARDMAN

When arresting a township man on a charge of theft Saturday, police found suspected drugs in his car parked at his Carter Circle apartment.

Police arrested Dennis Sinkovich, 47, on a complaint he stole a vacuum cleaner from Walmart on Doral Drive on Thursday evening.

When police searched his car, they found two small bags of suspected crack cocaine, a pipe and $400. A police report says Sinkovich admitted he steals merchandise and sells it for cash “to support him and his habit.”

He was booked on one count of drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and his theft warrants.

Facing robbery charge

BOARDMAN

A man recovering from hip surgery was arrested after being accused of stealing his girlfriend’s phone Friday night at his apartment on Shields Road, according to police reports.

The victim told police Kayln Sly, 23, of Boardman, accused her of cheating and took her phone. He then hit her in the face and scratched her chest. The victim told police he threatened to shoot her after hitting her in the head with his crutch.

Police noted she had a large bump on her head, blood on her nose and scratches on her neck and chest.

A search revealed Sly had an active warrant in Columbiana which listed him as being armed and dangerous. He faces a robbery charge and is scheduled to appear in Mahoning County Area Court today.

Southern Park thefts

BOARDMAN

Police arrested an Akron man who they said took merchandise from multiple Southern Park Mall stores Saturday night.

Police detained James Koonce, 26, in the parking lot and found two plastic bags that were lined with a trash bag, duct tape and aluminum foil. Inside the bags, police found about $120 worth of merchandise reportedly taken from Charlotte Russe, New York & Co. and Go Games and Toys.

Koonce faces charges of theft and one charge of possession of criminal tools. He is scheduled to appear in Mahoning County Area Court this morning.

Rabies clinic set

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County District Board of Health will host a rabies clinic at the Mahoning Dog Warden facility, 1230 N. Meridian Road, from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Cost is $8 per shot and is cash only. No appointment necessary.

Bring proof of prior vaccination on or after Oct. 27, 2017. Pets must be on a leash, in a cage or carried in a pillowcase. The clinic does not include an examination. For information, call 330-270-2855, ext. 2.