Boardman apartment fire leads to warrant arrest
Boardman police officers and firefighters responded to a fire at an apartment on Glenwood Avenue.
During their investigation, police found out one of the people in the apartment had an active warrant and arrested him.
The first responders arrived at the apartment shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday.
The police officer reported seeing a man still inside the apartment with “smoke billowing out the open apartment doors.”
The officer yelled to him to come out.
Reports say the man exited the building and “appeared reluctant” to leave the property; he told police he wanted to stay near the doorway of the apartment building.
He also told police the fire started as a grease fire and already went out, according to police reports.
More officers arrived to set up traffic control on Glenwood Avenue while fire fighters checked inside.
The man told police his name was Mike Harris, according to police reports.
Police officers checked with Boardman Dispatch, who confirmed the police had responded to calls at this apartment in the past.
Reports say there was a resident at the address whose real name was Phillip Harris, not Mike.
Phillip Harris, 51 from Youngstown, was wanted for theft and had a warrant, according to Boardman Police Department.
Reports say police had previously been at the address for a felonious assault in which Harris was the suspect.
The officers confirmed the man at the apartment was the same as the theft suspect. Dispatch told them in the active warrant’s physical description, there was a tattoo on his hand.
Officers were able to confirm the man had the same tattoo and he confirmed he was Phillip Harris.
Harris was arrested for the warrant and also charged with obstructing official business because he falsely identified himself to a police officer, according to reports.
He was taken to Mahoning County Jail, but the jail sent him to Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown for treatment.
According to police reports, Judge Joseph Houser ordered Harris to be held without bond until his theft case goes to court.
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