Ohio

MANSFIELD -- After nearly striking a police cruiser with his four-wheeler, a drunken 34-year-old man had to be ordered from the vehicle at gunpoint  Sunday night, the police said.

An officer reported seeing the man near the 200 block of North Adams Street close to midnight, driving the four-wheeler erratically and at a high rate of speed with one passenger, 28. After stopping for the officer, the two refused to follow police orders at gunpoint and were physically restrained and cuffed.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio- The city of Youngstown is toughening its law against operating ATVs in the city.

Violations of the law will now be a first degree misdemeanor, which carries a stiffer penalty than it previously carried as a third degree misdemeanor.

Raymond L. Smith

NILES - ATV, snowmobiles and four-wheelers will face increased fines and tougher law enforcement this summer as area communities try to get control of illegal riders who destroy private property and endanger lives.

"Someone is going to get hurt," Niles police Chief Simeone said. "Just this week we had an ATV driver pull up behind one of our patrol cars, hit it and drive away."

NILES, Ohio - Niles City Council is going after dangerous ATV drivers.

Councilmen say they want to toughen the penalties for offenders who are caught driving all-terrain vehicles on city streets. The crackdown is in response to several complaints councilmen have received about young people driving 4-wheelers at high rates of speed at all hours of the night.

Sue Kiesewetter

Liberty Township trustee Christine Matacic has a warning for anyone who takes an all terrain or other motorized vehicle into township parks for off road riding: beware, you will be ticketed.

“If you’re in an ATV you’re going to be cited if you’re in a township park,’’ Matacic said. “Deputies will be citing people if they’re in motorized vehicles in our park where they shouldn’t be.”

Leonard Hayhurst

COSHOCTON -- The era of joyriding in the red sea is over, and all-terrain vehicle riders could face fines and jail time if they continue their illegal ways.

The red sea refers to an area of 38.9 acres from behind Oak Ridge Cemetery on North Sixth Street to land owned by Calvin Lafferty past North 15th Street and going north to the railroad tracks almost to the Tuscarawas River.

Janice Morse

A Waynesville man who nearly died in an alcohol-related wreck on a bike path a year ago faces criminal charges.

In a Warren County indictment made public Monday, Donald Crawford, 42, was charged with four counts of aggravated vehicular assault.

Audry Kensicki

As the weather continues to warm up, people are outside more enjoying the sunshine.

But the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office says to stay safe, motorists need to keep an eye out for the unexpected.

DAYTON, Ohio -- Four people were cited for riding all terrain vehicles on State Route 4 north of Stanley Avenue and private property just off the highway, Dayton Police said.

Five people were seen riding ATVs, but one person fled before police arrived.