Toy gun robber gets 12 years

YOUNGSTOWN — A 33-year-old city man who wore a mask and used a toy gun in nine robberies at local stores between Sept. 11 and Nov. 23, 2006, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Shane Tisdale, of Roslyn Drive, drew the sentence Tuesday from Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Tisdale had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery and four counts of kidnapping in a Nov. 23 robbery at the Tic Toc Food Mart, 6888 McCartney Road, Coitsville. There, he bound the legs of two clerks and two customers and took money from the register and cash and a cell phone from a purse, police said.

Tisdale had also pleaded guilty to eight other robberies at gasoline stations, lottery stands, a discount store, a shoe store, and a fast food establishment in Austintown and Boardman.