Liberty man arrested on robbery charge

Liberty man arrestedon robbery charge
LIBERTY -- Sylvester Ray Jr., 42, of Liberty has been arrested on a charge of robbery. Ray was taken into custody Wednesday night by township police at a Belmont Avenue business.
Liberty police would not say why they had been looking for Sylvester or how they knew where to find him.
He is charged with the Tuesday afternoon robbery of Key Bank, 3198 Belmont, in which an undisclosed amount of money was taken.
Police reports say a man entered the bank and gave the manager, who was working a teller window, a note. It said he had a gun, wanted money and didn't want to hurt anyone. After being given the money, the manager sounded the alarm and the robber fled.
Suspect transferred
YOUNGSTOWN -- Chad E. Barnette, one of three 16-year-old boys accused of robbing and beating South Side residents, was transferred Wednesday from the juvenile justice center to the Mahoning County Jail after a judge decided the boys will be tried as adults.
The East Indianola Avenue boy is in a pod that keeps juveniles separate from adult inmates. With Barnette, the pod, which holds six inmates, now has five. His co-defendants, James E. Goins Jr. and Lamont Belcher, will be transferred to the jail once room is found, the sheriff's department said.
East Side robbery
YOUNGSTOWN -- A robber escaped from an East Side convenience store with $4,500 Wednesday afternoon, police say.
The robber, who appeared to be in his upper teens, pointed an object under his shirt and demanded money at 1:41 p.m. from the Shehy Market, 786 Shehy St. He went behind the counter, took the money, and fled in a brown Chevrolet, a store clerk said. The clerk told police he fired three gunshots in the air to scare the robber.
Police recovered three spent 9 mm casings in the street in front of the store and kept them as evidence.
Holdup at store
YOUNGSTOWN -- A gunman robbed the Dairy Mart at 1821 Mahoning Ave. about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday by telling the clerk, "Now just be quiet and hand me over your money. I have a gun," the clerk told police.
The suspect showed a silver handgun and the clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of cash from the register, police said. A witness said the robber left in an old pickup truck with no tailgate.
Drug charges
AUSTINTOWN -- A drug interdiction at Interstate 76 and state Route 46 turned up about 4.4 pounds of suspected cocaine in a car and the arrest of two men Wednesday afternoon, said Dave Allen, commander of the Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force.
Street value of that amount of cocaine is about $200,000, he said.
Keith Smith, 28, of Rush Boulevard, Youngstown, and Ronald Henderson, 23, of Walter Street, Kent, were charged with possession of cocaine, Allen said.
The interdiction involved the task force, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Austintown and Youngstown police and deputies from the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department.
Violation hearing
YOUNGSTOWN -- A March 21 probation violation hearing has been set for Daylen L. Harris, 21, of Trussit Avenue, whom Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly of Youngstown Municipal Court had told to obtain and maintain a valid driver's license. Police arrested Harris this week on charges of receiving stolen property (a car), driving with a suspended license and failure to obey a police order.
Last November, Judge Kobly sentenced Harris to 90 days in jail, suspended 80 and placed him on 12 months' nonreporting probation with the provision that he get a license. If the judge determines Harris violated his probation, she could impose the jail time she suspended.
Public safety grant
LISBON -- Sheriff Dave Smith told Columbiana County commissioners Wednesday his department got a $20,389 Ohio Department of Public Safety grant. About $5,000 of the grant will be used to buy new radar equipment. The remainder will be used to pay deputies overtime to catch traffic offenders, Smith said.