Compiled from staff and wire reports

Lion hunt on hold until more evidence

DEERFIELD TWP. - Investigators still aren't sure whether there was a lion lurking on a Tylersville Road horse farm last week.

But they are backing off of their investigation until more evidence surfaces.

Warren County Sheriff Tom Ariss said his agency removed a motion-detection camera from the barn after it failed to capture any images of a lion following a reported sighting by farmhand Andy Lawson. He said deputies will follow up on any future reports, but will not spend much more time at the farm.

Lawson told police July 2 he had seen a full-grown male lion three times over a couple of days and suspected it had been in the barn where 17 horses are stabled.

Police dogs and helicopters searched the property and a zoo official was called in for advice, but nothing was found to confirm that a lion had been on the property.

The sheriff said meat put out to lure the animal went untouched.

Man with gun robs Okeana bank

MORGAN TWP. - The Lebanon Citizens Bank in Okeana was robbed by a gunman Tuesday morning.

Around 10:50 a.m., Butler County sheriff's deputies were called to the bank at 6225 Cincinnati-Brookville Road.

The sheriff's office said a surveillance camera captured an image of a man with a gun, who is described as a white male about 5-feet-8 inches tall, 160 pounds.

He left with an undisclosed amount of money.

Woman gets probation for sex with student

A former teacher's aide at Oak Hills High School was sentenced Tuesday to five years probation for having sex with a student.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Charles J. Kubicki also designated Teresa Poplis, 45, of Miami Township, as a sexually oriented offender and forbid her from working with or having unsupervised contact with children.

Poplis was charged with four counts of sexual battery for having a sexual relationship with the student from Marchto May 2001. Two of the counts were dismissed in exchange for her guilty plea last month.

Protester indicted in incident at zoo

Nate Livingston was indicted Tuesday on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arresting stemming from a June 29 protest outside the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Livingston, 33, of Avondale, a leader of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, is accused of getting into a scuffle with Officer Orlando Smith, who ended up with a scratch on his face.

Another coalition leader who was arrested at the protest, Amanda Mayes, 27, of Over-the-Rhine, was not indicted. She was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, accused of interfering with Livingston's arrest.

Man charged with not reporting fires

DEERFIELD TWP. - A 21-year-old township man who police say was present when a friend set a series of trash fires on June 25 was charged Tuesday with failing to report them.

Steven Garlick Jr., of Deerfield Township, faces up to 30 days in jail if convicted of the fourth-degree misdemeanor.

One of the fires ignited a small strip shopping center on Columbia Road and destroyed a dog grooming businesses, an orthodontist's office and a gift shop.

The charge comes a day after prosecutors released a seven-count indictment against Derric Urton, 21, that accused him of setting four trash bins on fire as he walked home with Garlick from a Landen bar.

Girl killed, 4 injured in head-on collision

OXFORD TWP. - A 12-year-old girl was killed and four people were injured Tuesday night in a two-car, head-on collision in the 7300 block of Brookville Road.

The identity of the girl and those injured were not released Tuesday night. The injured were taken to McCollough Hyde Memorial Hospital by the Oxford Life Squad for treatment. Their conditions were not available.

Grand jury indicts four in fraud ring

A woman police describe as a career con artist who has used runaway children - and even her own - to steal more than half a million dollars - is now wanted in Hamilton County.

Tuesday a Hamilton County grand jury indicted Lottie Mae Stanley, 51, whose arrest record dates to 1969. She is wanted on warrants in 16 states, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

Her husband, Aaron Telke; her daughter, Nettie Williams; and her daughter's husband, Eddie Williams, were also indicted.

Stanley was indicted on six counts of taking the identity of another, forgery and theft. If convicted she faces up to 11 years in prison.

Telke, 38, and Nettie Williams, 28, were indicted of charges of tampering with records, forgery and taking the identity of another.

Eddie Williams, 29, was indicted on two charges of forgery, tampering with records and taking the identity of another.

Police say a nationwide network of detectives and federal agents has been unable to find Stanley for nearly six years.

In Hamilton County, she is accused of defrauding a woman out of at least $500.