Boardman police probe armed robberies

The robberies occurred at Southern Park Mall and at two Midlothian stores.

BOARDMAN — Township police are investigating three robberies that occurred over the weekend.

An employee of Sbarro Pizza, Southern Park Mall, told police that she was sitting at her desk inside the store when two men wearing ski masks entered through an unlocked rear entrance shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday. They asked where the money was and when she told them it was in a safe, one told her she had 30 seconds to open the safe or he’d kill her.

One of the men held what she believes was a gun to the back of her head while she opened the safe. The men took the money inside the safe as well as the employee’s cellular phone and fled.

An employee at Walgreen’s, East Midlothian Boulevard, told police that about 10:30 a.m. a woman tried to steal merchandise from the store. The employee grabbed the woman’s shopping cart, telling the woman that she’d have to stay in the store until the items were paid for.

The woman then told the employee that her brother was in a car outside and had a gun. The employee released the cart and the woman left the store and got into a beige Pontiac Grand Prix that contained two other women, and the car drove away.

On Friday morning, police were called to Dollar General, East Midlothian, where an employee said a man had approached the counter and handed him a note indicating he had a gun. The man then said, “You know what I want; do it,” a police report said.

The employee asked to see a gun and the man pointed to an object tucked into his waistband. The employee didn’t know if it was a gun but opened the register and handed the man money. The robber then left the store.