Cause of death sought

Cause of death sought

YOUNGSTOWN

Police are waiting for the Mahoning County coroner to determine the cause of death of a man found at 4 p.m. Saturday on the South Side at East Earle Avenue and Erie Street.

Police Chief Robin Lees said there were no signs of foul play, and investigators believe his death was not due to any criminal activity. The man’s name has not yet been released.

Menacing charge

YOUNGSTOWN

The head of the Youngstown Regional Film Commission is free on bond after police arrested him Sunday on a charge of menacing.

Fred D’Amico, 44, spent Sunday evening in the Mahoning County jail. He was arraigned Monday in municipal court on the charge, a misdemeanor.

Police said D’Amico had an argument early Sunday with someone at a downtown bar and threatened that person outside the bar in front of an officer who was working security.

D’Amico posted bond and was released Monday. Court records show he is due back in court Sept. 10 for a pretrial hearing.

Robbery sentence

WARREN

Jeremiah U. Jones, 19, of Plaza Avenue Northeast was sentenced to 12 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty in Trumbull County Common Pleas court to two armed robberies.

He also got six more years in June for another robbery for a total of 18 years in prison.

One of his convictions stemmed from a June 22, 2018, robbery of a woman who met Jones and two other males in the Howland Giant Eagle parking lot, then gave them a ride to a home on Shaffer Drive near Howland High School. There they robbed her of a necklace and earrings. During the robbery, she heard a “pop” and realized she had been shot in the thigh.

Jones also pleaded guilty to an Oct. 21, 2017, robbery. Details of that crime were not available. He pleaded guilty June 17 to an aggravated robbery that occurred Oct. 22, 2017. In that case, he robbed a cab driver on Overland Avenue in Howland.

Gunfire reports

WARREN

Two women reported having their vehicles hit by gunfire over the weekend.

A city woman, 35, said she was driving through the Trumbull Homes apartments near Colonial Street Southeast at 8:08 p.m. Sunday when she heard a very loud “tink” noise. Her car had a bullet hole in the middle of the rear driver’s side door.

She saw the bullet hole after she got home and called 911. She said she didn’t see anyone with a gun and doesn’t know why someone would have shot at her car. She was not injured.

At 6:30 p.m. Sunday, another city woman said someone fired a gun at her car as she traveled across the Summit Street Bridge near Mahoning Avenue Northwest, shattering her rear-passenger and driver-side windows. She said she heard a loud “boom” two times and saw a burgundy Ford speed past her at about the same time.

Police seek man

YOUNGSTOWN

Police are looking for a man who reports said tried to take a baby from his girlfriend late Saturday on Ohio Avenue, fired several shots at a gathering crowd and fled from a traffic stop.

Officers were called about 10:25 p.m. Saturday to a home in the 2500 block of Ohio Avenue on the North Side, where a woman said she was arguing with her ex-boyfriend, and he tried to take a baby he was carrying. He punched her in the face but she was still able to take the baby inside, reports said. Reports said the man then fired several shots from a gun he had before leaving.

Police spotted the car he was supposed to be in and pulled it over but he ran away, reports said.

Man stabbed

WARREN

A city man, 37, suffered a major stab wound and was taken to the Trumbull Regional Medical Center after a confrontation with another man on Lover’s Lane Northwest Saturday morning.

Eric Jackson, 49, of Longfellow Court, was charged in Warren Municipal Court with felonious assault and was arraigned Monday in the case. A not-guilty plea was entered for him, and bond was set at $35,000.

When police arrived for the 2:21 a.m. call, they found the victim’s upper body covered in blood. He was on the porch of a home in the 1000 block of Lover’s Lane and was taken to the hospital.

Police found Jackson near a van in the street. He said had drank “a lot,” and his speech was incoherent, a report said. He said he stabbed the victim, but he gave several contradictory reasons why. Police recovered a knife from Jackson and took him to the hospital, though he had no visible cuts or bruises.

Tree blocks traffic

CANFIELD

FirstEnergy workers Monday removed a tree that fell across Shields Road and blocked traffic for a few hours. The tree fell on the road just before 10 a.m.

Motorists were detoured through Dorado Beach Drive, which leads to Tippecanoe Road.

Fire district Chief Don Hutchison said the tree also took down and took electrical wires with it when it fell. One nearby district station reported a brief power outage.

FirstEnergy’s website reported up to 500 customers were affected by the fallen tree.

Weapons charges

YOUNGSTOWN

An Inverness Avenue man was arraigned Monday in municipal court on weapons charges after reports said police found a loaded 9 mm handgun in a car he was driving Saturday morning.

Charles Huff Sr., 56, is charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm and driving under suspension after he was pulled over at Erie Street and East Judson Avenue on the South Side for a traffic violation.

Reports said Huff gave police permission to search the car, and the gun was found underneath a jacket behind the driver’s seat.

Dogs killed in fire

YOUNGSTOWN

The cause of a fire that killed three dogs at a vacant 2825 Dearborn St. home that broke out about 5:40 a.m. Sunday remains under investigation.

Reports said the owners of the North Side home were using it for storage and for the dogs to stay in, but it was not lived in because the utilities are inactive. The home received extensive damage. No one was injured.

Gun safety initiative

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Ballot Board approved petition language submitted by Ohioans for Gun Safety for a ballot initiative, likely next year.

The group will begin collecting the 132,887 signatures they need to put the statute in front of the state Legislature. The proposal, if approved by voters, would require background checks on nearly all gun sales.

“The majority of Ohioans support background checks on gun purchases because they’re simple, they work, and they reduce gun violence and save lives,” said Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Ohioans for Gun Safety. “We already have a large number of people signed up to volunteer and help collect signatures, and we believe that number will grow in the coming months.”

Blood shortage

The American Red Cross is reporting it has a blood shortage and is calling for eligible donors of all blood types to donate to help prevent delays in medical care for the injured and ill.

A statement from the Red Cross on Monday attributed the shortage to a decline in the number of blood drives organized by community groups and businesses since the Fourth of July holiday week.

The Red Cross has less than a two-day supply of type O blood. Generally, the Red Cross likes to have at least a five-day supply of blood. Donors of all blood types, especially type O, are urged to make appointments at RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1-800-733-2767.

Sick leave extended

WARREN

Trish Nuskievicz, executive director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission, will remain on unpaid leave for now and has a possible return date of Oct. 17. She had a tentative return date of Monday, but her leave of absence has been extended to October, she said.

The decision to extend the leave was made by her doctor, she said, adding, “If I can return earlier, obviously I want to.” She went on unpaid sick leave Oct. 17, 2018, after using up her paid sick and vacation time in the months before that.

She went on sick leave last July, citing negative health effects from “psychological abuse, bullying, retaliation, discrimination and general harassment” from certain other county workers.

Not-guilty pleas

WARREN

Not-guilty pleas were entered for two Youngstown men on three charges each related to a break-in at a Hazelwood Avenue Southeast home at 3:16 a.m. Monday.

Larry McHellon, 32, of West Chalmers Avenue, and Jamarious R. Abrams, 23, who listed addresses on Atkinson and East Florida avenues were arraigned Monday in Warren Municipal Court on tampering with evidence, breaking and entering and possession of criminal tools. Bond for each was $20,000.

Police were called to Hazelwood for a report of a break-in. An officer later spotted McHellon and Abrams walking on Belle Street Southeast. McHellon had fresh dirt on his knees and shoes and was severely sweating. Officers located tools nearby and other tools in Abrams’ pocket. The tools matched a description of items taken from the home, police said.

Gas station robbed

BOARDMAN

Police are investigating a robbery at Shell gas station on Market Street on Saturday morning. The store clerk told police that a black male in his 20s wearing a gray hoodie and red pants approached the counter and said, “I don’t want to hurt anyone just give me the money.”

The suspect then took an undetermined amount of money from the register and fled, a police report states.

Agenda Wednesday

Boardman Township trustees, regular meeting, 5:30 p.m., Boardman Library, 7680 Glenwood Ave.

Hubbard Civil Service Commission, special meeting, 3:30 p.m., mayor’s conference room, 220 W. Liberty St.

Mahoning County Educational Service Center, regular board meeting, 4:30 p.m., 7320 N. Palmyra Ave., Canfield.

Springfield Township trustees, regular meeting, 7 p.m., 3475 E. South Range Road, New Springfield.

Youngstown City Council, finance committee, 4:45 p.m.; special meeting, 5:30 p.m., council chambers, sixth floor, City Hall, 26 S. Phelps St.

AGENDA runs daily. Items for the column should arrive at The Vindicator Regional Desk at least two days in advance.