YOUNGSTOWN — Ernesto Cuevas, listed as the owner of the home where Youngstown police shot and killed a man Thursday, was not home at the time of the shooting because he was incarcerated in Mahoning County jail.

However, Cuevas, 51, is no stranger to police.

Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman records indicate 4312 Helena Ave., the same address where the killing took place Thursday, is listed on criminal charges as the address of Cuevas, who, the records state, faces charges of intimidation, retaliation and domestic violence connected to a Sept. 17 incident and charges of obstructing official business and drug paraphernalia connected to a Sept. 15 incident.

Cuevas is being held without bond in the Mahoning County jail, records show.

Judge Joseph Houser ordered a forensic psychological examination for Cuevas Sept. 21 after Cuevas’ attorneys asked the court for one. Cuevas is listed by the county auditor’s website as owner of the home.

Youngstown police officers responding Thursday morning to a burglary call at 4312 Helena Ave. shot and killed a man inside the house. No officers were injured.

The Ohio Bureau of Investigation, an arm of the Ohio Attorney General’s office, has been called in to investigate the shooting. Youngstown police officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid leave, per city police policy. The officer or officers have not been identified.

Dave Starr, who lives close to the home where the shooting took place, said Thursday when he discovered there was an incident involving lots of police officers at Cuevas’ house, he suspected Cuevas could have been killed by police because Cuevas was involved in an incident in Boardman on Sept. 17 in which he had violently threatened police.

According to Boardman police, Cuevas terrorized his family and threatened to murder police officers when officers went to his mother’s house in Boardman.

At that time, Cuevas allegedly screamed at his mother and shoved her, so she called her other children for help. When police arrived on Sept. 17, they found Cuevas in boxer shorts, yelling and rambling that he wanted some bicycles that belonged to him and then he would leave.

Police arrested him on a domestic violence charge but found it difficult to get Cuevas into a police cruiser.

THREATS TO OFFICERS

During the episode, Cuevas began screaming at officers and threatening them with extreme violence, according to a police report, saying: “I’m going to find out where you live and get you and make your red blood flow everywhere.”

Another officer wrote that Cuevas said he would come to his house and kill him, and went into extensive detail about how he would begin killing other Boardman police officers.

Cuevas said he would wait in the bushes to snipe one, and would approach another sitting in his police cruiser and pretend to ask for help and then shoot them.

“Based on the circumstances, I believe Cuevas is willing and able to carry through with his threats to harm / kill police officers,” wrote Boardman patrolman Evan Beil.

“I honestly thought with all of this going on today, I thought it was him,” the neighbor said Thursday of Cuevas. “I didn’t know he was in jail. I honestly thought it was Ernie that was killed, especially when he threatened the Boardman police and said he was going to kill them.”

Starr said he later suspected that the burglar knew Cuevas was in jail “and knew he had some things of value in that house, probably what led up to the whole break-in.”

Starr said he has heard that someone broke into Cuevas’ house in recent weeks and stole items from the house and stole a yellow pickup truck from the property.

He said Cuevas had numerous nice vehicles, but they had all been towed away in recent weeks around the time Cuevas was arrested. In addition to the Boardman incident, people had seen Cuevas in his yard naked and neighbors were unhappy that he was parking his cars in the driveways of neighboring homes, Starr said.

“He was acting up for more than a month now,” Starr said. Cuevas lived in the neighborhood about five years without any issues, Starr said.

“There was a Corvette, a Chrysler, the Oldsmobile everybody wanted, all these old trucks, all with historical plates,” Starr said. By some estimates, his vehicle collection was worth more than half a million dollars, Starr said.

According to Youngstown police reports, Cuevas’ mother called police Tuesday regarding the theft of cash and a bicycle from Cuevas’ home, but no one ever called back to have a report written, according to one Youngstown police report.

On Sept. 11, based on a phone call, police found a Ford Mustang from Cuevas’ property was on the side of the road on Helena in a no-parking area, so the car was towed.

A neighbor also called police Sept. 9 to report that Cuevas was “naked outside again today, and her children are outside.” Police were unable to make contact with Cuevas that day. Officers noted that they could see trash in Cuevas’ house through the front window.

On Sept. 3, a caller to police stated that Cuevas “was fighting with all of the neighbors and screaming in the front yard. He has cars on the neighbor’s property and he refuses to move them,” according to a report.

It added that there were “six to seven people outside all screaming.”

On Aug. 29, police were called about “multiple inoperable vehicles” and other issues.