Man faces drug, child endangering charges


By Justin Dennis

jdennis@vindy.com

POLAND

A Youngstown man remains in Mahoning County Jail, facing charges of trafficking drugs and endangering children after Boardman police found a sleeping infant alone in what appeared to be a vacant home along Venloe Avenue.

Police found little to no furniture in the home early Saturday, nor a blanket for the child, but they did find a bag of suspected heroin and a scale covered in drug residue, according to a police report.

Police had found the child’s father, Izaiah Z. Beacham, 23, of Alameda Avenue, asleep in a vehicle outside the home, according to the report.

Beacham was taken to the Mahoning County jail on charges of heroin and cocaine trafficking, endangering children and carrying concealed weapons, along with other drug- and theft-related charges, according to jail records.

He also faces a misdemeanor domestic-violence charge in connection with an assault on the child’s estranged 24-year-old mother earlier that day outside a room at the Best Western hotel on Tiffany South in Boardman.

The man staying in the neighboring hotel room told police he intervened and grappled with Beacham after he saw him strike the woman. Beacham then attacked the man.

He later left with the child.

The woman, whose eyelid was cut and swelling, confirmed Beacham punched her, but spoke vaguely to police officers about why. She said she and Beacham agreed to meet at the hotel, a neutral site, so Beacham could visit his son, according to the report.

Poland Village police located Beacham’s vehicle outside the Venloe Avenue home and contacted Boardman police about Beacham’s whereabouts. Upon being approached by police and asked about the child, Beacham did not respond.

“As I was walking Beacham back to my cruiser, he began to shout ‘my son,’ implying that his son was in the house,” the officer wrote.

Police noted the child had a lip injury, but his mother confirmed it was a pre-existing injury. The 20-month-old boy was returned to his mother.

Beacham is set to appear for a hearing Thursday in Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman. Jail records show his bond for the weapons charge was set at $500,000.

Beacham has pleaded guilty to two prior drug offenses, including felony-level heroin possession in 2015, according to court records. Neither cases resulted in jail time.

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