THIEVES WITH LONG ARMS

Thieves with long arms
YOUNGSTOWN -- Banking transactions from Istanbul, Turkey, were fraudulently made using checking accounts that belong to a Brownlee Avenue woman and Wilkinson Avenue man, police said. The unrelated thefts were reported Monday night. The woman said she noticed $1,100 missing when she checked her account online and said most of the withdrawals were done from an ATM in Istanbul. The man said he realized $506 was missing when he tried to use his debit card and the purchase was denied. He checked his account online and also discovered withdrawals had been made from automated teller machines in Istanbul.
House contents stolen
YOUNGSTOWN -- The entire contents of a house in the 500 block of East Lucius Avenue were removed during a break-in, reports show. Value of the items, listed on four pages of a report, was estimated at $18,000. The victim told police that the house had been boarded up pending repairs after a kitchen fire and the thief removed the board to get in. The break-in took place sometime between April 10 and 14 but wasn't reported until Monday.
Car windows broken
GIRARD -- Police are investigating a rash of broken car windows between late Monday and early Tuesday. According to police reports, eight residents on Morris and Wilson streets reported having car windows broken with rocks. One resident reported more extensive damage to the rear of a car on Elruth Court.
Masked gunman sought
GIRARD -- Police are looking for a masked gunman who tried to rob one city convenience store and may have planned to rob another store late last week. Police received a call at 12:25 a.m. Saturday about a man on the side of the McQuaid's building wearing a mask and acting suspiciously. Police could not find the man. Less than 30 minutes later, police received a call about a masked man trying to rob the Expresso Market on East Liberty Street. The man, reports said, walked up to the drive-up window, pointed a gun and demanded money. The teller stepped away from the window to call police, and the man ran away.
Tire iron used in assault
AUSTINTOWN -- Police are investigating an assault in which a teenager was hit with a tire iron. The attack happened Monday around 9 p.m. as the teen and a friend were walking on Kimberly Avenue, according to police. They were confronted by a group of eight males, and one grabbed the teenager around his neck and began to choke him while someone else hit him in the head and back with the tire iron, police report. The friend tried to stop the assault and was punched. A resident let the two into his apartment to get away from the attackers, and they called police.
Driver dies in crash
CLARK, Pa. -- A Hermitage man died as the result of injuries suffered in a crash on Pa. Route 258. Hermitage police said Phillip Mendonca, 26, of Todd Avenue, was westbound at 5:34 p.m. Monday when his car drifted across the center line and crashed head-on with a car going east, driven by Matthew Kennedy, 19, of Eleet Street, Greenville. Police said a third car, driven by Justin Neeson, 33, of Sanchez Trail, Hermitage, was traveling behind Kennedy and crashed into Mendonca's vehicle. Police said Mendonca was pronounced dead at the scene. Kennedy and his passenger, Matthew Foust, 19, of Greenville, were taken to an unspecified hospital for treatment, police said.
Music lover robbed
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Burlington Street man told police he has been listening to music inside his car parked outside his apartment for the past five years without any problems. That changed late Monday night when a gunman in a ski mask opened the passenger door and announced: "This is a robbery." The music listener got out of the car, saying the money was in his apartment. The gunman fired one shot into the ground and then took $400 from the victim's pockets before running off toward Belmont Avenue, reports show. Police found a casing in the street.