METRO DIGEST || Rape suspect arrested

Rape suspect arrested

BOARDMAN

A Sharon, Pa., man previously charged with rape was arrested Wednesday in the township, according to court records.

On April 3, Matthew Miller, 43, was charged with kidnapping, rape and two counts of domestic violence.

The victim told police after an argument on March 30, Miller grabbed her by the hair, dragged her into the basement of her home and duct-taped her to a chair, where she sat for several hours. When she escaped, Miller threw the victim onto the floor and sat on her chest so she couldn’t breathe. When she tried to run away, he tackled her.

According to police reports, he let her go to bed, but she woke up when he pulled her hair. Miller proceeded to rape her, reports say. The victim was able to run and call for help. Miller was arrested the morning of March 31.

His preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 24, but he failed to appear. A county court judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He is in the Mahoning County jail.

HIV accusation

WARREN

A 37-year-old city man reported to police Wednesday he has learned a woman with whom he had sex in 2015 knowingly carried the virus that carries AIDS and was sexually active with other people without disclosing her condition. The victim said he tested HIV positive in 2015. The man was advised to speak with a city prosecutor.

Vase broken at store

BOARDMAN

A woman broke a vase after demanding a refund at Queen Nails in the Southern Park Mall on Wednesday afternoon, a store employee told police.

When the employee told the suspect he could not process a refund without a receipt, the suspect swung at a vase on the front desk, causing it to shatter. The employee described the suspect as a small black woman about 21 years old. He provided police with a picture of the suspect’s car and license plate.

Charged in accident

YOUNGSTOWN

U.S. Marshals on Thursday arrested a woman for her suspected role in a fatal accident July 17 on the city’s East Side.

Laechelle Oliver, 26, of West Dewey Avenue, is in the Mahoning County jail on charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter, both misdemeanors. The charges were filed Thursday.

She is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.

Oliver was the driver of a car about 11:10 p.m. July 17 that collided with a motorcycle at Oak Street and Himrod Avenue driven by Shawn Christopher Allen, 39, of New Castle, Pa. Allen died of injuries sustained in the accident.

Court papers said at the time of the crash Oliver had a suspended driver’s license.

Credit-card fraud

AUSTINTOWN

A township woman reported someone charged $1,200 to her credit card earlier this month.

The woman said her creditor’s fraud department informed her of the suspicious charges between Sept. 8 and Saturday, which she said she did not authorize, according to an Austintown Police Department report.

The card account was closed and a new credit card was mailed to her, the report states. The report was forwarded to Austintown detectives.

Fire department grant

BAZETTA

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, will present the Bazetta Fire Department with a $103,894 federal grant at 10 a.m. today at the fire station, 3000 Warren Meadville Road. The money will go toward operations and safety for the department.

Tailgate postponed

CAMPBELL

The third annual community tailgate scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. today in the Memorial High School parking lot has been postponed due to the anticipated inclement weather.

With the anticipation of thunderstorms and potential high winds in the area, city and school officials determined that postponing the tailgate was the safest option. The event will be rescheduled.

Car reported stolen

AUSTINTOWN

A man who reportedly left his vehicle in a Javit Court parking lot with the windows down and the keys in the ignition reported the vehicle was stolen some time after 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the area that showed an unidentified man who appeared to have left a nearby Mahoning Avenue restaurant enter the vehicle and drive away.

Campbell police located the vehicle Wednesday evening along Booker Street, unattended and without the keys in the ignition. The vehicle was towed to Austintown Police Department for investigation.

16-year-old shot

WARREN

A 16-year-old boy reported being shot in the leg at 4 p.m. Wednesday by an unidentified male as he walked at Belmont Street and Prospect Avenue Northwest. The boy was taken to St. Joseph Warren Hospital for treatment where police interviewed him. Police provided no additional details.

Failure to control

WARREN

Nicole A. Martof, 23, of Diane Court in Niles was cited for failure to control after her 2004 Buick LeSabre went left of center at the intersection of Fifth Street Southwest and Tod Avenue, striking the garage of a home on Tod at 3:17 a.m. Thursday.

The garage received major structural damage, police said.

She was traveling eastbound on Fifth and lost control at the intersection, traveling off the left side of the road on the other side of the intersection before hitting the garage, police said. There were no injuries.

Traveling memorial

AUSTINTOWN

Veterans Outreach will host Ohio’s traveling memorial to honor the men and women who have given their lives in the war on terrorism. Riders will meet at 3 p.m. today at Quaker Steak & Lube, 5800 Interstate Blvd., and then travel to Boardman Park for this three-day event.

A donation of $10 per bike is requested. The opening ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. There will be live music from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, live Christian music from 10 a.m. to noon, and the closing ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday. The event, which will consist of 800 flags, will feature speakers, vendors, food and beverages. For information, call 330-755-5792 or email tely@veteransoutreach.org.

Charged with assault

LIBERTY

Bond was set at $57,500 in Girard Municipal Court for Titanna Floyd, 25, who is charged with felonious assault and child endangerment after she allegedly hit a woman with a crow bar just after midnight Thursday in the 2000 block of Northview Boulevard, according to a police report.

The report said Floyd attempted to hit the victim after an argument and the victim challenged her to fight.

According to police, Floyd asked her 8-year-old child in her car’s passenger seat to grab a crow bar from the trunk, and the child complied, the report said.

Floyd came to the victim’s car and began striking her with the crow bar, the report said. Police reported cuts on the victim’s shoulder and hand. Floyd told police she struck the victim in self-defense.

Fundraising accusation

AUSTINTOWN

A GoFundMe.com page was advertised as benefiting the family of a child who died in September, but the fundraiser pocketed most of the money, a township woman reported to police this week.

The woman said her friend offered to establish the crowd-funding page, and last week gave the woman $189 raised through the effort, according to a police report. The woman noted, however, the page raised $661, and she suspects her friend kept the remaining $472.

The woman said she attempted to contact her friend Monday and was ignored. The GoFundMe page was later deleted, but not before the woman took screenshots showing the total amount raised, the name of the deceased child, the child’s photo and a statement that the fundraiser was “taking donations directly.”