Dog helps nab suspect in breaking, entering

The suspect first identified himself as his dead brother.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Police dog Gijs ran through the kitchen to stop the man trying to get out a living-room window — and knocked him to the floor.

“All right, he got me,” Charles Merchant yelled to Detective Sgt. Frank Rutherford, Gijs’ handler.

Rutherford told Merchant to not move or kick his legs while Gijs (pronounced Hise) was being “extracted.” The police dog was then lifted off Merchant and leashed inside the house at 541 W. Ravenwood Ave. on Thursday.

As Merchant fell, he dropped a screwdriver and a vice grip, and another screwdriver fell out of his pants, police said.

The 48-year-old West Warren Avenue man was charged with breaking and entering, possession of criminal tools, falsification and obstruction of official business.

Neighbors had reported seeing someone acting suspicious and working on the door handle of the house that is for sale. Police called the realty company to repair the damage done to the house.

Water was found under the kitchen sink because the pipes had been removed, police said. Copper pipe and light fixtures that could be sold as scrap were found on a dining-room shelf. Patrolman Dave Santangelo of the Scrap Theft Unit took photos of the items and collected them as evidence.

Merchant was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment to his injured leg and because he complained of chest pains. He was expected to be arraigned in municipal court once released from the hospital.

Police said Merchant first identified himself as his dead brother. After officers determined Merchant’s true identity, he told them he uses his dead brother’s information because his brother didn’t have a criminal record. The hospital was advised of his true identity.

Merchant told police he’s been to prison and has a warrant out for his arrest on traffic charges, reports show. He added that Municipal Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly will put him in jail for more than a year because his license “has been suspended something like 14 times.”

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court records show Merchant has been convicted several times of receiving stolen property.