DUI CHECKPOINT Liberty robbery suspects captured

Officers were operating a DUI checkpoint less than a half-mile from the scene.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Two Youngstown men who drove through a DUI checkpoint remain in custody after they robbed a gas station less than an hour later, police say.
"Our officers were running a DUI checkpoint at Belmont and Trumbull avenues Friday night," said township Police Chief Anthony Slifka. "During the checkpoint, they got the call that the BP station had been robbed, so the officers were in the right place at the right time."
Lawrence Johnson, 40, of Belmont Avenue and Anthony Smith, 43, of Norwood Avenue remain in the Trumbull County jail after their arraignment Monday afternoon in Girard Municipal Court on several felony charges.
Chase ensues
The men were arrested early Saturday. Police say they used a pistol to rob the BP gas station at Belmont Avenue and Gypsy Lane and then led officers from Liberty and Youngstown on a chase through Youngstown North Side neighborhoods.
As it turned out, police had seen the men before, said Capt. Ken Feigerd.
"They had come through the DUI checkpoint at 11:41 p.m.," Feigerd said. He added that even though the men were not stopped for suspected drinking and driving, police keep a log of every vehicle that passes through such checkpoints. The men were in the same vehicle when they were arrested after the robbery.
Feigerd said road patrols and two officers working the checkpoint responded to the call of the robbery at 1:16 a.m. Saturday, less than a half-mile from the checkpoint. The men fled in their vehicle onto Gypsy Lane, he said.
A Liberty officer drove down Gypsy Lane, Feigerd said, and noticed the vehicle parked on the side of the road. As the officer approached, however, he saw a man run across the street and jump through the window into the vehicle, when then sped off.
"They were going along at a pretty good clip, turning up and down side streets until they hit a power pole at New York and Logan [avenues]," Feigerd said.
Men caught
Johnson was caught as he tried to leave the vehicle, but Smith ran and led Liberty and Youngstown officers on a short foot chase before he was caught, Feigerd added.
Slifka said officers searched the men and the vehicle and recovered the gun suspected of being used in the robbery and the money taken from the station.
Charges filed
Johnson, who is on probation for an earlier robbery conviction, is charged with complicity to aggravated robbery, fleeing and eluding, possessing a weapon illegally and resisting arrest.
Smith is charged with aggravated robbery, carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest.
Both men are to appear for preliminary hearings on the charges at 9 a.m. Oct. 27 in Girard Municipal Court.
slshaulis@vindy.com