Sunday, July 23, 2006
The security guard was an off-duty Coitsville police officer.
COITSVILLE -- Police arrested two people over the weekend after a theft and a scuffle with a security guard at a Kmart store in Shenango Township, Pa.
The suspects in the theft got away from the guard with stolen merchandise and fled in their car, police said.
Coitsville police arrested Sean P. Ungaro, 33, of Liberty, and Dana M. Masters, 24, of New Castle, on U.S. Route 422 here at around 5 p.m. Saturday.
Michael A. Morris, Coitsville police chief, confirmed that Ungaro, of Oriole Drive, is a son of former Youngstown Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro, who is administrator for Liberty Township.
Morris said police officers are familiar with Sean Ungaro, who has been arrested before.
Morris said the security guard, who was an off-duty Coitsville officer, saw a man and woman steal a large number of razor blades from the store.
Morris said the guard chased the two, who ran to their car. The guard reached into an open window to try to get the razor blades back, but they drove off.
The guard called Coitsville police and gave a description of the man and woman and their car. Route 422 through Coitsville is an often-used corridor for travel between Youngstown and the New Castle area, which is likely why Coitsville officers were alerted, Morris said.
A short time later, an officer spotted a car matching the description of the one involved in the theft and pulled it over, police said.
Police said the officer reported seeing a large plastic bag that held several boxes of razor blades -- 59 packages worth more than $800. The Kmart security guard arrived and identified Ungaro and Masters as the suspects from the store, police said.
Court date
Ungaro and Masters will appear at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Campbell Municipal Court. They were placed in Mahoning County jail without bond. Morris said a judge will have to set bond for the two at their court appearance.
Morris said that any theft of more than $500 is a fifth-degree felony. He said Shenango Township Police will issue felony theft charges against the pair, and that the charges in Coitsville are receiving stolen property.
Youngstown police arrested Sean Ungaro in August 2002 after an ambulance crew found him asleep in his car, clutching a hypodermic needle, according to Vindicator files. He was charged with possession of heroin and possession of a drug abuse instrument.
Youngstown police also arrested him in September 2001 after he ran a stop sign in Youngstown. He had a hypodermic needle in his pants pocket, according to the paper's files. Other syringes were found in his car at that time, police reported, and he was charged with possession of a drug-abuse instrument.