YOUNGSTOWN Fugitive in homicide captured in Cleveland
The man had barricaded himself inside a Cleveland apartment when federal officers forced their way in.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police have arrested a man accused of killing a 24-year-old Austintown woman in a West Side bar, ending a three-month search.
Latawon Townsend, 20, was taken into custody in Cleveland around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday by the Cuyahoga County FBI Fugitive Task Force after a standoff at an apartment on West 104th Street, said Youngstown Detective Sgt. Ron Rodway.
Townsend is accused of shooting Angela M. Loibl, 24, in the face about 1 a.m. Jan. 12 in the kitchen of the T-N-T Bar on Steel Street. She died later that day.
Rodway said Loibl was an innocent victim who had run with other women into the kitchen to escape Townsend and co-defendant Jose Rivera when the men entered the bar armed with guns. Rodway said the women believed the kitchen door was a way out of the bar but became trapped.
What happened: The men had been kicked out of the bar earlier, threatened to "shoot the place up" and returned with the guns, Rodway said. Townsend is accused of being the shooter. Rivera, 24, of Grandview Avenue, is accused of complicity.
Rodway said the men left the bar, making remarks about being from the East Side.
Townsend and Rivera were indicted Jan. 24 on aggravated murder charges. Rivera surrendered. Police have been tracking Townsend, receiving tips that he was in Atlanta, Ga., Columbus, Cleveland and Pennsylvania.
Rodway said city police and the local FBI office had received a tip about Townsend's whereabouts and called the Cuyahoga County force to make the arrest. He said Townsend had barricaded himself in the apartment and the federal officials had forced their way in to apprehend him.
Rodway said Townsend will be taken to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for arraignment this week.