16-year-old boy faces bank robbery charge

The teenager will be charged in municipal court Tuesday morning.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Police say a 16-year-old North Dakota teenager remains in custody after he robbed a city bank, crashed the getaway vehicle and led them on a foot chase.
The boy -- whose name was not yet being released -- was being booked Friday afternoon on a felony charge of bank robbery. Police expect to file formal charges Tuesday morning in Niles Municipal Court.
Authorities say the boy -- who said he was from Fargo, N.D. -- was at the Cortland Banks branch in the Niles Park Plaza around 12:40 p.m. Friday when he presented a note to a teller demanding money.
Preliminary reports were he left the bank with roughly $6,000, but police Capt. Charles Wilson said he could not confirm the amount, though he did note officers were able to recover the money.
The teenager left in a maroon car on U.S. Route 422 headed toward Girard, reports said. The teen tried to turn off Route 422 onto Bellwood Avenue in McKinley Heights, behind the Pinetree Plaza, when he lost control of the vehicle. Wilson said police were unable to confirm Friday if the vehicle was stolen.
Eyewitnesses said the boy got out of the car, tried to gather items from the vehicle, soon dumped the items in a large trash bin behind the plaza, and fled on foot toward Robbins Avenue.
Niles police, who were on Robbins handling an earlier car accident, were quickly able to locate the boy and chase him on foot. Officer Les Nagy caught the teen behind McKinley Lanes bowling alley on Robbins.
Assistance
Officers from Weathersfield Township, the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol assisted in the search.
Wilson said FBI officials, who are often called in to handle bank robberies, were not participating in the investigation.
Investigators from Niles police were interviewing the teenager late Friday evening. Wilson said police were unsure why the teen was in the area.
The bank robbery was the second in two years in Niles. The National City Bank in downtown Niles was robbed last summer. The FBI continues to investigate that case, but no suspects have been named and no one has yet been charged.
slshaulis@vindy.com