SHEFFIELD — A Lorain woman and her child were sent to Mercy Regional Medical Center for evaluation after she repeatedly ran into a garage door at Nick Abraham Nissan.

Roberta Velez, 44, pulled into the service area of the dealership in her 2008 Kia Sportage before striking the door, according to Sheffield police.

“Everybody thought she was going to get service,” Sgt. John Csubak said. “She never got out — she paused, gunned it, smashed the garage door, busted out a bunch of windows and hit it again, getting her vehicle stuck in the garage door.”

Csubak said she then got out of the car, got her child out — a girl about 10 years old — and basically holed up in the women’s restroom.

Csubak said Velez was “out of it” but he believed it was due to some sort of medical emergency, not drugs or alcohol. He wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of the medical problem, citing privacy laws.

Csubak said the woman had to be forcibly removed from the bathroom. Police were called about 12:30 p.m., he said.

Damage to Velez’s vehicle was minimal, but the dealership door will need to be replaced, Csubak said.

LORAIN — Police confiscated a gun yesterday afternoon after a 7-year-old girl told officers she found it in her 17-year-old sister’s closet.

Officers, who were called to the West 10th Street home about 1 p.m. Sunday, spoke with the child’s father, who said he also found a bullet and believed the gun might have belonged to the girl’s boyfriend.

The father said that the girl and her boyfriend have a child together, and she is currently pregnant as well.

After officers left the scene, they were called back when the 17-year-old and her boyfriend returned, the report said.

The daughter told police she was aware of the weapon in her room. She said she did not see her boyfriend put it there, but she was aware that he was holding it for a friend, the report said.

Police charged Antonio Stewart, 23, with furnishing a weapon to a minor. The gun, a .22-caliber rifle with its barrel cut down, was placed into evidence.

Lorain firefighter Chris Bennett, left, and Lt. Greg Neal at the Lorain Central Fire Station. Bennett was scheduled to be laid off after 12 years with the Fire Department, and Neal to be demoted to a firefighter before concessions with the city were reached. The Department just received a $1.7 million grant to rehire seven other firefighters who were previously laid off. (CT photo by Steve Manheim.)

More than $1.7 million has been awarded to the Lorain Fire Department by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Fire Administration.

The funds will be used to re-hire laid off firefighters and recruit new firefighters through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, according to the Fire Department and a news release from Sen. Sherrod Brown.

From the release: “SAFER grants bolster fire departments’ ability to respond to fires and fire-related hazards, along with their overall level of preparedness. These round four funds can be used for recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and hiring firefighters. The funds provide for salaries, benefits, and general equipment needs.”

In March, the Elyria Fire Department received a $3.7 million SAFER grant. That grant allowed them to pay the wages and benefits of 23 additional firefighters for two years, according to a story at the time.

The Lorain Fire Department laid off seven firefighters last year. The department also planned to lay off another 11 and demote six officers, but those cutbacks were averted after the department and the city were able to agree to concessions, according to Fire Chief Tom Brown.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story as it becomes available.

SHEFFIELD — A Lorain woman with a clean recent driving record apparently had a bad night Saturday and wound up with three speeding tickets in just over an hour in Sheffield.

According to Chief Larry Bliss, Amy Bobkovich, 38, was first pulled over and ticketed at 11:40 p.m. Saturday on East River Road between Colorado Avenue and French Creek Road. She was clocked at doing 55 mph in a 35-mph zone, Bliss said.

At 11:50 p.m. she was pulled over again, by a different officer, about a mile south of there, again on East River, about a half-mile north of state Route 254, Bliss said, and was again clocked at 55 mph in a 35-mph zone.

At 12:43 a.m. Sunday, she was pulled over on Detroit Road east of East River and clocked at 51 mph in a 35-mph zone.

According to Bliss, officers’ reports note that Bobkovich was “polite and cooperative” and said she just wasn’t paying attention.

Bobkovich hadn’t had a traffic ticket in six or seven years, Bliss said.

Bliss said he didn’t know whether Bobkovich had received any prior warnings about her speed but said of her going at least 20 mph over the speed limit, “that’s significant, two times.”

Bliss referred questions on Bobkovich’s fine amount to the Sheffield mayor’s court.