Niles man stabbed during robbery

YOUNGSTOWN -- A Niles man was in stable condition and scheduled to be released from St. Elizabeth Health Center today after being stabbed with an unidentified sharp object in a robbery Thursday on Youngstown's South Side.
Joe L. Batovsky, 48, told police he had just walked away from a Market Street grocery store about 4:30 p.m. when he was forced to the ground on nearby Chicago Avenue. He said he felt a sharp pain in the side of his stomach and lost his wallet containing $40 in a struggle with a man and a woman who were attacking him.
The couple fled west on Chicago Avenue in a large, red late-model car. The victim was taken by ambulance from the 300 block of West Glenaven Avenue to the hospital. An emergency room doctor said the victim would be admitted for observation, but his injuries weren't life-threatening.