Sheriff’s Office

— Dispatch received a call at 12:45 a.m. Friday from a resident in the village of Minerva regarding a large explosion they heard south of their residence on East Lincoln Way. The caller said Minerva Police advised the sound was likely from a fracking well pad in Columbiana County, however off of Major Road NE in Carroll County. A deputy checked the area without hearing any further explosions. Contact was made at the Norris Well Pad and the foreman advised they did not have or hear any explosions from their pad. The foreman explained that if it was from the pad, they would have had a loss in pressure and would have been alerted immediately. No explosions were found when the deputy checked the area again.

— A deputy traveling southbound on state Route 7 near Birch Road at 8:06 p.m. Thursday came upon approximately 15 vehicles moving at a low rate of speed, 20 mph in a 55 mph zone, then observed the lead vehicle swerving from left to right across the yellow line and the white fog line. The vehicle turned onto East Liverpool Road and stopped at the intersection at a yellow flashing light for several seconds, then turned south. The deputy activated overhead lights and sirens and attempted to stop the vehicle, which wasn’t stopping. The vehicle passed several spots to pull over safely and continued, speeding up to 40 mph and then going back down to 20 mph. St. Clair Township Police responded to the OS Hill parking lot and the vehicle continued swerving and passed several roads before striking stop sticks deployed by St. Clair officers. The driver was a citizen of China with a passport and with a driver’s license from China. Both the driver and passenger were students at Carnegie Mellon University. The driver got her driver’s license in China two days before leaving for the United States on Aug. 28. Both said the driver was still learning how to drive and they did not understand they had to pull over and stop for flashing emergency lights behind them while driving. The driver, whose name was not listed on the report, was cited for marked lanes and impeding traffic. Both were released from the scene, with the rental vehicle towed due to all four tires being flat.

— A woman on state Route 172, West Township, reported at 11:06 p.m. Wednesday that an unknown female from the state of Maryland was harassing her by phone and social media over puppies she’s selling on the Internet.

— An open 911 line was reported at 11:39 a.m. Tuesday in the area of state Route 558 and Kirk Road in Fairfield Township. Nobody was located, but then contact was made with a person at the address and it was learned they accidentally called 911. They did not need assistance.

— A deputy responded at 7:26 a.m. Tuesday to a private property hit/skip crash at the Swift Mart in Unity Township, then learned the crash actually happened on state Route 14. The Ohio State Highway Patrol was requested and arrived on scene to handle the crash.

— Deputies were dispatched at 9:55 p.m. Oct. 9 to the 9800 block of Stroup Road for a vehicle sitting in the road with its headlights on. Contact was made with the driver, Mitchel O. Lacey, 53, Bethesda Road, Franklin Township, who was cited for no license and parking in roadway. His vehicle was towed by Baker’s Towing.