Man and woman arrested in Youngstown may be involved in Trumbull robbery

YOUNGSTOWN — A man and woman charged with a theft at the Sparkle Market on Mahoning Avenue match the description of a couple involved in a Trumbull County strong-arm robbery, police said.

Dario Valentini, 27, of Runnemede Drive, Boardman and Vanessa A. Williams, 20, of Lowellville Road, Struthers, were arraigned today in municipal court on theft charges. Valentini also faces drug charges. They will be back in court Aug. 14 for a pretrial hearing.

Valentini is accused of grabbing $400 from a cash register at Sparkle after giving the clerk $1 to pay for a snack cake on Monday afternoon. Witnesses said he ran out to a light blue Ford Taurus being driven by a woman.

Patrolman Tony Vitullo spotted the car traveling west on Mahoning and pulled it over near Evanston Avenue. Valentini admitted to taking the money and told police it was in his left shoe, reports show.

Officers found the cash in Valentini’s left shoe and then found three Vicodin (painkiller) pills and drug paraphernalia in his right sock.

Police said Trumbull County issued a “be-on-the-lookout” notice on Sunday for a white man and white woman driving a light blue Ford Taurus with “E” being the first letter of the license plate. The pair are suspects in a robbery in Trumbull County but no further details were immediately available.

The plate on the Taurus stopped after the Sparkle theft begins with “E.”