Police: Fired coach left children at home with dead dog

FOSTORIA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio track coach has been fired after police say he texted nude photos to underage students and left his children at home with a decaying dog.

Court records show 28-year-old Nelson Cousin pleaded not guilty to charges that include child endangerment and violating prohibitions concerning companion animals.

The Blade reports Cousin was placed on paid leave from his position as a paraprofessional and coach at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School in March. The Fostoria school superintendent says he was fired Tuesday.

Officers serving a search warrant April 4 say they found his three school-aged children sleeping in the living room because of a dead dog in a bedroom. Records show firefighters wore oxygen masks to remove the dog because of the stench.

Cousin’s attorney has not returned messages seeking comment.

2 teens hit while trying to cross busy interstate

CINCINNATI (AP) — Police say two teens were hit while trying to cross a busy highway in Ohio.

Authorities say a group of about 20 teens tried to cross Interstate 275 in Colerain Township just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. Police say several people called 911 to report the group trying to cross before the teens were hit by a car.

Colerain police spokesman Jim Love says drivers got out of their cars to help the hurt teens, but the other children in the group ran away as officers arrived.

Love says the two teens who were hit have been hospitalized, and their injuries are not life-threatening.

Love says the driver of the car that hit the teens stopped after the collision and is cooperating with police.

Cleveland police find potent sedative disguised as OxyContin

CLEVELAND (AP) — Officials in northeast Ohio are issuing a warning after detecting a large animal sedative in pills disguised as the pain medication OxyContin.

Cuyahoga County’s medical examiner, Dr. Thomas Gilson, said in a statement Wednesday that the pills were discovered by Cleveland police. He says they contain carfentanil, an opioid used to tranquilize elephants.

The sedative is thousands of times more powerful than OxyContin and was linked to 58 deaths in Cuyahoga County last year. It’s so toxic that an amount of carfentanil smaller than a poppy seed can kill a person. The sedative was researched for years as a chemical weapon.

Gilson says that people who purchase pills on the street are most at risk of accidentally overdosing. Pills supplied by pharmacies are not affected.