A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area woman died after drowning in Lake Erie near Westfield while trying to save her young son, and a friend after they drifted into deeper water while swimming. Sheriff's Deputies say 37 year-old Christen Stefan of Bethel Park went into the water about 2:30 PM after a combination of wind and waves pushed her 9 year-old son, Tyler... and, another boy away from Shore Have Beach. The boys were playing with an floating inner tube when they were pushed into a cove with rocky cliffs. The other boy... 8 year-old Benjamin Bignell... was able to get out. However... Tyler Stefan fell back into the water. Mrs. Stefan tried to help her son... but, vanished under the water. A nearby resident was able to bring Tyler back to shore. His mother later died at Westfield Memorial Hospital. He was treated for hypothermia. The investigation is continuing.
State Police are on the look-out for a black man and a white woman who attempted to car-jack a man early this morning in the Cattaraugus County town of Randolph. Troopers were called to the scene on Cold Spring Road about 6 this morning. State Police Sergeant Greg Worell say an unidentified man came upon the scene of what appeared to be a disabled mini-van. Worell says the victim got out... and, the black male with the black mini-van pulled a knife on him. He says the two fought... and, the victim got away. The black male and a white woman driving the van then fled the scene. Worell says the black male was wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt... and a New York Yankees baseball cap. He says the woman was wearing a purple colored shirt. Both were described as being in their 30s. The black van had a red "Peace" sign on the back... and, Pennsylvania licence plates. The victim got away with a couple of minor abrasions. If you have any information... contact State Police at 665-3113.
The power is back on after downed electric lines on Baker Street Extension caused just over 15-hundred National Grid customers to lose power early this morning. The National Grid Website is reporting that the power went out at 4:15 AM. Chautauqua County Dispatchers reported the downed lines... but, not what caused the downed lines. The outage... and, possible brown-out... was centered in the the Lakewood-area. National Grid Crews were able to get the power back on around 7:30 this morning.
A Randolph woman is accused of stealing just over 56-thousand dollars while she was working at the Lakewood Wal-Mart Super Center over a two-year period. Lakewood-Busti Police say 57 year-old Cheryl Vaninetti (Van-ih-Netti) allegedly wrote several checks to Wal-Mart from two bank accounts in 2010 and 2011. Investigators say she would place the checks in the retailer's bank deposit system... and, take cash for the check's value. Police accuse her of doing it in a way that by-passed Walmart's electronic financial security system. Once the checks were deposited into Wal-Mart's account... the checks would be returned to Wal-Mart for insufficient funds. Vaninetti was arrested on a warrant for Felony second-degree Grand Larceny... and, was awaiting arraignment in Busti Town Court.
Gasoline prices in the Jamestown-area have held steady this week following the Fourth of July weekend. In fact... the average price remains about 3-dollars-89 cents a gallon. One location in the Lakewood-area is charging 3-dollar-85 cents. Nationally... the Triple-A's Fuel Gauge Report says the average price of regular, unleaded has fallen for 10 straight days... and, for the first time since June 11th... the national average price is reflecting a month-over-month discount. The current average is now 3-dollars-65 cents per gallon. That's 2-cents less than one week ago.
