Salem man jailed in robbery attempt

CANTON -- A Salem man is being held in the Stark County Jail on charges relating to an attempted robbery of an Alliance Dairy Mart.
Police charged Samuel S. Vargo, 43, of Benton Road, with attempted robbery, carrying concealed weapons and petty theft.
Police received a report Sunday of a man in a car with the license plates covered. They said the man had been acting suspiciously at an Alliance gas station. The man was wearing a hooded winter coat and scarf with the hood covering his head. The outside temperature was 47 degrees, police said.
Police said they found the car just after midnight parked at the far south end of the parking lot of the Dairy Mart at 707 N. Union Ave.
Vargo came out of the Dairy Mart and police stopped him as he went to the car. Police found two knives, one with a 6-inch blade and one with an 8-inch blade, concealed in a black bag on the car seat. Police said the knives were within Vargo's reach as they questioned him. They found two cans of an energy drink in his coat pockets.
Police said Vargo told them he had come to Alliance bent on robbery and had been driving around town looking for a target. He said he entered Dairy Mart with the intent of robbing the store, but instead left taking the two cans of energy drink, police said.