Fatal overdose in Wilmington
WILMINGTON, Ohio — A Wilmington man has died of an apparent heroin overdose, according to police.
Emergency services responded just before 6 p.m. Sunday to a home in the 500 block of West Truesdell Street. where Joseph Dawson, 31, of that address was discovered deceased in the basement, according to the Wilmington Police Department report.
Officers seized two syringes and a cell phone at the scene. An investigator from the Clinton County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene.
A brother of Dawson’s, Jacob, has started a GoFundMe page to raise $3,000 for funeral expenses. The page description states, “(Joseph) struggled with drugs for four years. He wanted help but was afraid to ask.” — Wilmington News Journal
WW II soldier laid to rest
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — A soldier killed in combat in World War II has been buried with military honors in his home state of Ohio more than 70 years after his death.
Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. William Brandenburg, of New Miami, was buried Saturday next to his parents in a cemetery in southwest Ohio’s Butler County.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says the 17-year-old soldier died in November 1943 in a battle against the Japanese on the island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean. He was later buried with other unknown service members at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Brandenburg’s sister, who has since died, submitted DNA to the Pentagon in 2011. It enabled his identification last year.
Testing of rape kits complete
COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has finished testing 14,000 rape kits from across the state and has begun helping police pursue suspects identified by that evidence.
BCI says the agency has tested and returned kits to nearly every police department in Ohio. More than 4,400 kits have been returned to Cleveland, 1,432 to Akron and 482 to Columbus.
WBNS-TV reports BCI has formed a task force to help police in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, while another will be formed in Summit County, which includes Akron, to search for assailants.
BCI Superintendent Joe Morbitzer says the Ohio Attorney General’s Office has formed a cold case squad to helper smaller departments with resources they need to arrest and prosecute sexual assault suspects.
Inmates may get tattoo removal
COLUMBUS (AP) — State prison officials say inmates in Ohio prisons may soon be offered tattoo removal services.
The Dayton Daily News reports that Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Annette Chambers-Smith says the state is researching costs and logistics of removing tattoos on prisoners’ faces, necks and hands. She says tattoos can hurt inmates’ job prospects once they are released.
Chambers-Smith says funding could come from the department’s medical budget or from fees collected from inmates when they buy items from prison commissaries. She says the state will seek proposals from those who provide removal services.
Department rules bar inmates from having tattooing equipment and from getting tattoos inside the prisons. The use of non-sterile equipment for tattooing can cause infections and spread diseases. Tattoos also can signal gang membership.
Man killed in collision with deer
CONNOQUENESSING, Pa. (AP) — State police say a deer struck by a car in western Pennsylvania went airborne and through the windshield of an SUV, killing an Ohio man driving the SUV.
The crash occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday on Route 68 in Connoquenessing.
Authorities say 53-year-old Anthony McCoppin, of Blawnox, was driving eastbound when he hit the deer. The animal went airborne, directly into the path of the westbound SUV driven by 73-year-old Michael Modjallal, 73, of Akron, Ohio.
The deer hit the upper windshield of Modjallal’s SUV and went into the vehicle, causing fatal injuries to Modjallal. A passenger in his SUV, 70-year-old Lucia Modjallal of Akron, was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries.
McCoppin wasn’t hurt.
The crash remains under investigation. — Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com
___
Information from: WBNS-TV, http://www.10tv.com/
