YOUNGSTOWN - An Austintown couple scheduled to go on trial later this month for allegedly endangering their three children is now going to enter pleas instead, according to court records.

Thirty-two-year-old Samuel Myers and 35-year-old Sara Myers both have plea hearings set for September 25.

Each was indicted on five counts of endangering children. Court records don’t indicate what charges to which they will plead.

The charges stem from an investigation that began last October when a shopper outside a Niles department store wrote down the license number of an SUV and called the police after noticing a young teenage boy who appeared to be bruised.

Police traced the license plate to an apartment on North Raccoon Road in Austintown and spoke to Myers, as well as their three children who were 13, 7, and 5 years old at the time.

According to the police report, the thirteen-year-old had bruising and scratches along the length of both arms as well as cuts on his legs.  Police also say the teen appeared to be malnourished.  His bare feet were also dirty.

Police say they smelled urine and feces when they opened the door of the family’s home.

Officers say they found dog feces throughout the home, including the kitchen and the children's bedroom.

The house was dirty, and the floor was extremely sticky,  according to the police report.

There was only one bed in the boys' room and police say it wasn't clean.

The children advised that their big dogs had taken over one of the rooms and the children now had to sleep on the couch or with their parents.

Police say there were six dogs in the house.

One dog was described as "very large…with long hair that was so matted, that you could hear the clumps of hair hitting the floor."

There were also two golden retrievers that police say were thin and had no food or water.

Police say the dogs were "skin and bones" and it appeared that one of the dogs could not get up from the floor.

The children were turned over to a relative and the pets were taken by humane officials.