Saturday, May 14, 2005
Two robbery suspects were arraigned Friday in separate cases.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Bond was set at $1 million for a Cleveland man accused of taking a woman's purse at knifepoint near the WRTA bus station downtown.
The bond was set Friday in municipal court by Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. for Terrance Baylor, 38, who is charged with aggravated robbery. He is due back in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
Around 1 p.m. Thursday, Patrolman John Prest was sent on a robbery-in-progress call and told that a witness at WRTA saw a woman chasing a man on the Spring Common bridge toward Mahoning Avenue. Prest was joined by more officers, who searched the area and heard movement in thick weeds and trees.
Apprehended
Baylor was spotted in the 500 block of Mahoning and told to crawl out toward the officers. He told them about a warrant for his arrest in Cleveland and said he was tired of being on the run and just wanted to go home, according to reports.
Police said Baylor was wanted by Cuyahoga County on an escape charge and by Franklin County for a probation violation.
Baylor told police he was sorry, he didn't want to hurt the lady, he just wanted money to get home. He showed police where he put the purse and the knife in a vacant building at 572 Mahoning.
The witness was brought to the scene and identified Baylor as the man seen chased by a woman. The victim, an 18-year-old from McDonald, also was brought to the scene and identified Baylor as the man who grabbed her purse.
The victim, who works downtown, said she had just parked her car in the WRTA lot when a man approached asking for money. When she told him she didn't have money, he pulled a knife and she tried to empty her purse to show that she had no money, but he grabbed it and ran, reports show.
The McDonald woman chased the suspect for a brief period.
Separate arraignment
In an unrelated case, Edwin S. Palmer, 31, of Nottingham Drive, was arraigned Friday on a robbery charge. Judge Douglas set Palmer's bond at $50,000 and a preliminary hearing for May 18.
A 53-year-old West Princeton Avenue man said he was using the change machine at Big John's Car Wash on South Meridian Road at 12:30 a.m. Friday when a blond man in a blue parka approached and asked for money. The victim told Patrolman Tom Andrews that he was knocked into a wash bay wall and jumped on after saying he had no money, reports show.
The victim fought back, and the suspect ran north on Meridian, with the victim following in his car. He saw the suspect near Billy's, a bar at 40 S. Meridian.
Andrews, Patrolman Bill Bailey and the victim, with the assistance of Austintown police, entered the bar, and the victim identified Palmer.
Palmer told police that he didn't know what they were talking about. He said his truck was out of gas at the USA Gas Mart on Meridian. The location is just south of the robbery attempt, police said.
Police said Palmer had green paint flakes on his left ear, consistent with the color of the walls at the car wash bays.