Armed robbery on camera

YOUNGSTOWN — An armed robbery at the Purpose Money Store on Mahoning Avenue was recorded on the store’s surveillance camera, and detectives are asking that anyone with information about the two suspects call (330) 742-8911.

Police were sent to the business at 2723 Mahoning around 11:40 a.m. when a hold-up alarm sounded. Within minutes, a description of the two suspects, both of whom used small handguns, was broadcast on the police radio.

An employee told police that the first man came to the door holding a Western Union slip of paper and she buzzed him in. When he opened the door, his accomplice, who had hidden from her view, also entered the building.

The larger robber, described as 25 years old, 5 feet 8 inches and 195 pounds, pointed a gun and told the employee to back up, reports show. The smaller suspect, described as 18 years old, 5 feet 4 inches and 140 pounds, walked the employee to a back room and demanded that she open the safe while pulling a gun from his coat pocket.

The employee told the robbers that the safe was on a time release mechanism. She stayed in the back room while the men went to the front counter and took cash from a drawer. They ran out the door just as the employee came out of the back room. She saw them running east.

The larger robber wore a black baseball cap and black coat. The second suspect wore a black hoodie and used a do-rag with the eyes cut out to cover his face.