AKRON
Gunfire in auto lot
AKRON: A used-car lot owner told police he returned gunfire after being targeted by two gunmen outside his Akron business.
The shooting took place at the Best in Value car lot, 1035 S. Arlington St., about 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The owner, 31, told police he was leaving the lot when two men approached and started shooting at him. The lot owner said he returned fire as the men ran behind an apartment building on Neville Street.
No one was wounded. A report did not indicate the number of shots fired.
The lot owner told police that earlier in the day he ordered a man driving a Moped to leave the property. He was unsure if the shooting was related.
Mom, son arrested
AKRON: An Akron mother was arrested after police said she became belligerent with officers following the arrest of her son.
Sarina Lawrence, 40, is charged with obstructing justice and misconduct at an emergency. She was being held in the Summit County Jail.
Also at the jail was her son, Ragheem Carr, 19.
Carr and two teens, ages 16 and 13, are accused in the armed robbery of a man at a bus stop near Lovers Lane and Inman Street about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The man was robbed of $30, a silver chain, his iPhone and three bus passes, police said.
Akron police officers responding to the area arrested Carr and the 13-year-old. The other teen was identified, but had not been taken into custody.
Police said Carr was being held in a police cruiser when his mother tried to approach the vehicle. Officers ordered her away, prompting the mother to continue yelling at police and tell her son, “Don’t you talk to the [expletive] cops,” police said.
Man robbed at ATM
AKRON: An Akron man was confronted by two men and robbed outside an ATM, police said.
The victim, 60, said the two men approached him around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday while he was using the FirstMerit ATM in the 700 block of North Main Street.
The men initially asked the victim if he wanted to buy drugs, police said. While the ATM user dialed 911, the men punched him in the face, grabbed his cellphone and ran.
Hours for Valle
AKRON: John Valle, Akron’s director of neighborhood assistance, will have office hours at three community centers over the next several days:
• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at Ellet Community Center, 2449 Wedgewood Drive.
• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Lawton Street Community Center, 1225 Lawton St.
• Noon to 2 p.m. Feb. 19 at Firestone Park Community Center, 1480 Girard St.
KENT
Tanning spa robbed
KENT: Kent police are looking for information concerning an armed robbery that occurred Feb. 1.
Police said a man entered Darque Zone Tanning, 1720 E. Main St., just after noon. He told an employee he had a weapon.
The robber got away with an undisclosed amount of money. He fled in a black, four-door Mazda 6.
Police are asking that anyone with information on the car or the suspect to call the department at 330-673-7732 or send a tip to www.kentpd.org.
Suspect takes nap
KENT: An 18-year-old Horning Road man was in jail after Kent police said he was discovered sleeping in a stolen vehicle Sunday.
Robert M. Myers is scheduled to appear for preliminary hearing in Kent Municipal Court today on three counts of receiving stolen property and one count of tampering with evidence.
Police said Myers is suspected in several vehicle thefts, including two vehicles recovered in Kent and one recovered in New Castle, Pa.
Officers found him sleeping around 10 a.m. Sunday in a stolen car parked in a Kent parking lot.
Myers was being held in the Portage County Jail on a $75,000 bond.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Benefit for Horrigan
AKRON: Summit County Clerk of Courts Dan Horrigan will host his annual Mardi Gras Party fundraiser from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Todaro’s Party Center, 1820 Akron-Peninsula Road, Cuyahoga Falls.
Tickets can be purchased at the door.
For more information, call 330-256-0077.
NORTHEAST OHIO
Joyce to cross aisle
WASHINGTON: Freshman U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce won’t be seated among his Republican colleagues during the State of the Union speech next week.
Instead, he plans to sit next to U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Illinois, who also is new to Congress.
“In the spirit of bipartisanship and working together, we are looking forward to attending President Obama’s State of the Union address together,” Joyce, R-Russell Township, said in a news release Thursday.
“As freshman members new to Washington, we understand our members want to see common-sense solutions to our nation’s problems, not partisan bickering.”
Joyce and Bustos met while attending a bipartisan Martin Luther King Jr. Day service with 11 other congressional members.
PLAIN TOWNSHIP
Restaurant protest
PLAIN TWP: Over 50 township residents crowded into Plain Township Hall for the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting Wednesday evening to protest a planned McDonald’s at Easton Village Center.
Tom Locke, who owns the current McDonald’s on Easton Street next to Township Hall, had requested a change in a nonconforming use to build the new McDonald’s at the site that originally was home to the Home Savings & Loan Bank and Kessler Chiropractor.
Architect James Ptacek said two buildings in the complex, at 6300 Market Ave. N, would be torn down to make way for the new McDonald’s.
Jeff Simmons presented a petition signed by 180 nearby residents, asking the board to deny the nonconforming use, saying that traffic problems, trash and the smell of McDonald’s french fries would be disruptive to their neighborhood.
Many in the boisterous crowd spoke out against McDonald’s coming to their neighborhood, although all admitted to patronizing the McDonald’s on Easton Street.
Michael Lewis of McDonald’s Property Management asked the board to table the proposal so they could take a look at the concerns. The board agreed.
SUMMIT COUNTY
Timely topics at talk
AKRON: Summit County Progressive Democrats will discuss two hot topics — gun violence and health-care reform — when they meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Scheduled to speak are Toby Hoover of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence and John Patrick Carney, whose talk is titled Implementing Health Care Reform.
The meeting will be in Meeting Room 2 of Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. Main St., Akron. It is free to the public.
STATE NEWS
Casino take mixed
COLUMBUS: Casinos in Columbus and Toledo saw their numbers increase slightly in January, while the take at Cleveland’s casino in January fell from December.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission released its revenue reports Thursday for the three state casinos.
Revenue at the casino in Columbus was $18.2 million last month. The Toledo casino pulled in just under $14.3 million.
The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland saw a 16 percent decrease in January from the month earlier, but it still brought in $20.6 million.
— Associated Press
Prison plan floated
COLUMBUS: The Ohio prisons system wants to privatize its food service operations in a move that could save $15 million but result in more than 300 lost jobs.
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction says it remains committed to balancing its budget without reducing bed space or closing any more prisons.
Prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said Thursday that savings would come through staffing, meal and equipment costs, with the possible reduction of 380 jobs.
Smith says 56 of the 380 employees already have found other jobs within the agency, and the state hopes to help more find positions.
Unions representing guards at the adult and youth prison system, which is also considering a privatized food service, promise to fight the proposal, calling it unfair and unsafe.
— Associated Press
