Warrant issued in robbery, chase

A Youngstown man was charged with robbing a
convenience store.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — A 30-year-old Warren man faces charges that he stole DVDs from a grocery store and fought with a police detective.

A warrant was issued Monday for the arrest of Andrew P. McMichael of Hazelwood Avenue Southeast on charges of robbery and felonious assault.

Detective Jeffrey Hoolihan said he was walking into the Giant Eagle on Elm Road where he works off-duty security about 1 p.m. Sunday when a customer told him that a man running out of the store took about 20 DVDs without paying for them.

McMichael ran into a waiting sport-utility vehicle driven by a woman. The SUV sped off with Hoolihan giving chase in his unmarked police car.

The detective said he stopped the vehicle on Shepard Drive Northeast off Reeves Road and got McMichael out of the vehicle at gunpoint. McMichael started to struggle when Hoolihan tried to handcuff him, according to a police report.

When McMichael tried to get away, the detective grabbed McMichael’s shirt, which was torn off, exposing a gun in his waistband. Hoolihan was hit in the head and kicked in the thigh during the battle.

“It was a helluva fight,” Hoolihan said.

McMichael fled into nearly woods, and a search with a police dog couldn’t locate him. McMichael was charged after the SUV driver was interviewed.

It was one of two robberies in the city in three days.

Deandre R. Riley, 24, of Idora Avenue, Youngstown, is charged with the Friday robbery of Circle K on North Park Avenue about 5:15 a.m. Friday.

He was arraigned Monday in municipal court on charges of aggravated robbery, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a dangerous ordnance.

He is in the Trumbull County Jail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday.

He reportedly used a sawed-off shotgun to take $50 and more than a dozen packs of cigarettes. Riley was captured a short time later.

yovich@vindy.com