Charges filed in bowling alley break-in

Vandalism is among the charges, and bond was set at $56,500.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — As soon as Alvin G. Miller Jr. realized prying eyes were watching him destroy a video game, he tried to get out of a closed West Side bowling alley, police said.

The eyes were those of Patrolmen Greg Miller and Shakir Perkins. The officers were sent to Mahoning Valley Lanes on Mahoning Avenue around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday when the burglar alarm at the business sounded.

They found the point of entry, a partially pried open garage door at the rear of the building. The opening was just enough to allow someone to squeeze through.

They waited for the owner with a key but then heard someone banging around inside and called for backup.

The sounds inside continued so police looked through the front windows into the bar area. That’s when they saw a man, later identified as Miller, 36, of South Hazelwood Avenue, taking numerous swings at the video game with small metal object.

When Miller saw the officers he took off running trying to find a way out, reports show. Next came the sound of breaking glass at the front of the building.

Miller was seen kicking a plate glass window and ordered to the ground, police said. Miller and Perkins then crawled under the pried garage door and entered the bowling alley.

Money, including $26 in bills and $30.95 in coins (some rolled), was found in Miller’s pockets, as was a small amount of suspected marijuana, police said.

He was charged with breaking and entering, possession of criminal tools, vandalism and drug abuse marijuana. He was also served with an outstanding warrant in an unrelated breaking and entering case from 2007.

Miller was arraigned Tuesday in municipal court on the charges. Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. set bond at $56,500 and preliminary and pretrial hearings for May 14.

Damage at the bowling alley included an automated teller machine that had been flipped several times, bottles and other items thrown behind the bar, the video game screen, the window and garage door. Outside, the windshield on one of the business owner’s trucks that had been left in the parking lot was smashed.

Mahoning County area court records show Miller has been convicted of theft-related crimes in the past few years, including possession of criminal tools.