Compiled from staff and wire reports

Store manager halts scam against woman

GERMANTOWN - A 92-year-old woman almost lost $2,400 in an apparent lottery scam.

Ken Finke, manager of the Germantown IGA in Miami Township, just north of Butler County, came back from lunch Wednesday to find his employees wiring the money to a man in Israel. The store is a Western Union transfer branch.

"The woman was adamant that the money should be wired, and it went through, but the man didn't claim it right away," Mr. Finke said Thursday. "She claimed she had won the Canadian lottery and would get back two checks for $250,000 each if she sent the man $2,400. I said right away, `Hey, that's a scam. I'm calling Western Union.' Immediately, they stopped the transaction.

"The woman enters a lot of contests. I think she got on somebody's `Little Old Lady List.' "

Police did not release the name of the woman, a retired teacher with no known family. Mr. Finke said Western Union wired the woman back her money Thursday.

Detective Sgt. Robert Burling of the Miami Township Police Department said, "The operators usually prey on the elderly. It's pretty heartless. ... This certain one, the Canadian Lottery Sweepstakes, has been a major problem."

Blessing to fight DUI in court

WILMINGTON - A state senator charged with driving under the influence of alcohol will challenge the propriety of his traffic stop and the accuracy of his breath test.

Louis Blessing, a Cincinnati Republican, was in Clinton County Municipal Court for a pretrial hearing Wednesday. He pleaded innocent to the charge at a Dec. 26 appearance.

Blessing, 54, was stopped by a State Highway Patrol trooper early Dec. 19 on Interstate 71.

His breath test measured a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent, the patrol said. In Ohio, the legal limit is 0.10 percent.

Judge Chad Carey scheduled a March 20 hearing.

Indictment alleges rape of 5-year-old boy

WEST CHESTER TWP. - A 23-year-old man was indicted Wednesday on rape and gross sexual imposition charges after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy Thanksgiving Day.

Steven Green is expected to be arrested this week and is scheduled to appear in Butler County Commons Pleas Court Thursday, West Chester Township Police Sgt. Steve Oakes said.

The assault allegedly occurred at Mr. Green's apartment at Woodbridge on the Lake off Cincinnati-Dayton Road.

Four charged after drug sweep at school

MASON - Four high school students face drug charges after a sweep of the district's middle and high school campuses this week, school spokeswoman Shelly Benesh Hausman said.

The students were suspended and will undergo drug assessment after being charged with possessing or being under the influence of drugs. Two other students who were not charged also will undergo drug assessment, Hausman said.

Students were either carrying marijuana or had it in their cars in the school parking lot, she said. Local K-9 units and Mason police did the search Tuesday.

"We do random searches as a deterrent and to send a message to say we don't tolerate drugs in our schools," she said.

Gunshots result in school lockdown

SPRINGFIELD - Gunshots fired Thursday near an elementary school in this western Ohio city prompted a lockdown of the school for about 40 minutes.

Police Lt. David Swords said the shots were reported fired at 11 a.m. about a block from Highland Elementary School.

"The school was not in any way involved," he said. "No child was hurt or in danger in any way."

Swords said a witness reported seeing a person firing a gun, and several bullet holes were found in a nearby vehicle.

He said there were no reports of anyone being injured, and the person who fired the gun could not be found.

Coach indicted in nude photos of girls

TROTWOOD - A grand jury on Thursday indicted a part-time high school track coach accused of taking nude photographs of teenage girls.

Damian Patrick Barker, 35, of Trotwood, was indicted on two counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. If convicted, he could face up to 16 years in prison.

Barker was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $200,000 bond.

Jonas Smith, athletic director at Jefferson High School in this Dayton suburb, said Barker has been coach of the boys' and girls' cross country teams and the girls' varsity track team for the past six years.

Barker was not a teacher at the school, police said.