By Robert Guttersohn
rguttersohn@vindy.comYOUNGSTOWN
When Dave Nelson from the Mahoning County Dog Warden’s office on Wednesday came across William Bednar, 55 and homeless, pushing a cart filled with dead animals and two syringes, he was running into a familiar face.
Police arrested Bednar for the syringes and the dog warden’s office
confiscated a dead peregrine falcon from the cart. 
The next day, police filed charges against Bednar for the killing of two German shepherd puppies Jan. 30 in the West Federal Street boulevard in front of the Western Reserve Transit Authority station.
Police charged Bednar with two felony counts of cruelty to companion animals. He has two prior convictions of animal cruelty, one in 2000 and one earlier this year.
City Prosecutor Jay Macejko said Bednar was a person of interest almost immediately after the investigation started because he has a history of animal abuse, and security cameras filmed him in the area about the time of the dog killings.
Mahoning County Dog Warden Matt Ditchey said the
shoe laces that were tied around the dogs’ necks and the blanket that covered them also linked the killings to Bednar, but he would not say how.Wednesday night while he was in custody, the dog warden’s office obtained a witness statement regarding the German shepherd puppies, leading to the animal cruelty charges, Macejko said.
Bednar will be arraigned 1:30 today at Youngstown Municipal Court and may have more charges filed against him if further investigation
shows the falcon was killed, Nelson said.
