Two men face charges in robbery try, auto theft

One of two robbers was punched in the face by the victim.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Two men are in custody after they reportedly attempted to rob a couple and stole a car during the weekend.
John D. Lanam Jr., 26, of Mason Street, was arraigned Monday before municipal Judge Thomas W. Townley on one count each of attempted aggravated robbery and auto theft.
Mark J. Brewer, 24, of West Federal Street, was arraigned on one count each of complicity to aggravated robbery and complicity to auto theft.
Each is being held on a 7,500 bond. Lanam is in the Trumbull County jail, Brewer in the city jail.
Police Chief Bruce Simeone said Lanam and Brewer attempted to rob a couple at gunpoint at McDonald's restaurant on Main Street about 6 a.m. Sunday.
The robbery attempt was foiled, Capt. Chuck Wilson said, when a man sitting in a car at the restaurant with a woman pushed the gun Lanam had away from him and punched him in the face.
The couple fled in the car, and Lanam and Brewer ran away.
Thefts alleged
Police allege the two men then stole a car from the parking lot of the nearby Fuel Mart at Park and Chestnut avenues and drove to Ashtabula County. There, Simeone said, thefts were committed. They returned to Niles about 10 a.m. Sunday.
Nobody was available at the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Department to give specific information on what occurred there.
Simeone said the two stole another car in Ashtabula County, leaving the one taken from the Fuel Mart in Ashtabula; it had been wrecked.
The car stolen from Ashtabula was spotted in front of Brewer's home on West Federal. Police obtained a search warrant and found Brewer and Lanam inside the residence.
Recovered from inside the house was a pellet gun that looked similar to a semiautomatic pistol. Simeone said it hasn't been determined if the pellet gun was used in the foiled holdup.
Simeone credited Niles 911 dispatchers and Ashtabula deputy sheriffs, whose communication skills led to the arrests.
yovich@vindy.com