Youngstown police probe 3 home invasions

YOUNGSTOWN — Police are investigating a pair of home invasions on the city’s North Side, and a third on the South Side, in which intruders took money and other items from residents at gunpoint.

The aggravated robbery cases don’t appear to be connected, said Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives.

The robbers entered those homes through unlocked doors, Centorame said

A 53-year-old Cherry Hill Avenue man told police he was sitting at his kitchen table around 10:40 p.m. Monday when he heard a door open at his home in the 1900 block. The door had been left unlocked, he said, because he was expecting his wife to arrive home at any minute.

However, a man wearing a black ski mask and holding a handgun walked into his kitchen and ordered him to the floor. The gunman threatened to shoot him if he didn’t cooperate and demanded money and jewelry, the victim said.

The gunman took his wallet containing $118 cash and credit cards and then ordered the victim into the bedroom and onto the floor while he searched the house. The robber also took an envelope containing between $150 and $200 in cash, the victim said.

He described the robber as between 19 and 25 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds. He wore black jeans, a plaid button-down shirt, black tennis shoes and red gloves.

Other invasions

Two women and a man at a home in the 1400 block of Ohio Avenue told police they were robbed by a gunman around 3 a.m. Tuesday.

They told police that the gunman came into the house through the back door and ordered them to lie on the floor. He took a wallet from the male victim and a ring, cell telephone and purses from the two women. One of the female victims said the man also took her debit card.

The robber, described as about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing about 140 pounds and wearing a gray sweat shirt and black baggy pants, then fled.

There was no sign of forced entry to the house, and police said the three occupants couldn’t remember if the back door had been locked.

On Sunday, a 46-year-old East Philadelphia Avenue man who moved into his house that day, told police two women and a man, all believed to be in their 20s, walked into his home through an unlocked front door and beat and robbed him of his cell phone and $25.

gwin@vindy.com