YOUNGSTOWN CRIME 3 men plead guilty to robbery

One of the men also was charged with assaulting a police officer.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Three men pleaded guilty to abducting and robbing a city man on the East Side in April 2003.
Rashard Willis, 27, of Republic Avenue; Jermaine Tillis, 32, of Dean Street, and his brother, Terrence Tillis, 29, of McClure Avenue, entered their pleas Wednesday before Judge Maureen A. Cronin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Willis and Jermaine Tillis pleaded guilty to charges of abduction and aggravated robbery with a gun specification. Terrence Tillis pleaded guilty to those same charges, plus a charge of assault on a police officer.
Judge Cronin delayed sentencing pending presentence reports on the three from the Ohio Adult Parole Authority. Those reports usually take about one month to complete.
Potential sentences
Willis and Jermaine Tillis face a maximum of 16 years in prison if the judge rules the sentences are to run consecutively. Terrence Tillis faces a maximum prison sentence of 171/2 years with consecutive terms.
Martin P. Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor, said all credit for getting the guilty pleas goes to the victim, "who was diligent to see this case through."
"If we have the kind of cooperation from more victims like him, we would have less victims like him," Desmond said.
What happened
Police reports say Willis and Terrence Tillis struck a car with their vehicle as its driver was trying to turn into a driveway in the 800 block of North Garland Avenue.
The two men then reportedly got out of their car, pointed handguns at the driver of the other auto and ordered him out.
The victim told police the two men then forced him to change a tire on their car, then forced him inside it.
The two men then drove their car and the victim's car to a house in the 700 block of Dean Street where Jermaine Tillis was waiting.
Jermaine Tillis, the report states, threatened the abducted man with "a long gun" while Willis went to a bedroom and Terrence Tillis stayed in the abducted man's car.
The victim told police he was able to escape after Jermaine Tillis fell asleep, and he called police around 6:45 a.m. from a house in the 400 block of Sunshine Avenue.
Police then accompanied the victim to the Dean Street residence where he said he was held captive. The victim's car and the car that had run into his were both parked in the driveway.
Terrence Tillis was at the rear door and closed it on an officer's arm and foot when the officer tried to speak with him, the report shows.
Other officers immediately pushed the door open and chased Terrence Tillis through the dining room, where two loaded handguns were found on the table.
With an officer in pursuit, Terrence Tillis ran upstairs and into a bedroom closet. Willis was also in the bedroom and refused officers' orders to exit the room, the report shows.
Jermaine Tillis, who was seated on a sofa when police chased Terrence Tillis through the downstairs, was arrested.
Police eventually forced Terrence Tillis out of the closet and arrested him.