Police seek a third suspect in home invasion

Items taken in the robbery were found inside a woman’s apartment, police said.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — One suspect remains at large in the case of an East Side home invasion that includes an alleged rape.

In custody are Lexter Williams, 28, and a 17-year-old boy, both of Kendis Circle. They are each charged with aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery. Williams is also charged with rape. The boy’s charges are pending in juvenile court.

Police said items taken in the burglary were found in Tamika Jones’ apartment, also on Kendis Circle. Jones, 25, is charged with receiving stolen property, possession of a dangerous ordnance (a sawed-off shotgun) and having a weapon under disability based on a prior conviction forbidding her to own firearms.

Williams remained in the Mahoning County jail Tuesday in lieu of $750,000 bond. Jones was in jail in lieu of $175,000 bond. They are scheduled for a preliminary hearing in municipal court Feb. 2. The 17-year-old is in the Mahoning County juvenile lockup.

A third man in the home invasion remains at large, said City Prosecutor Jay Macejko. After an investigation by detectives, arrest warrants were issued for Williams and a search warrant was issued for Jones’ apartment. Macejko said Jones is Williams’ girlfriend.

The crime took place in the 100 block of Livingston Street around 1:45 a.m. Thursday. The homeowner told police he was watching TV with his girlfriend and a male friend when three intruders entered through an unlocked door.

The homeowner said two of the intruders had guns and ordered them to get on the floor and kept asking, “Where’s it at?” and, “Where’s the money?”

The woman was taken to the basement and raped, reports said.

The intruders took cell phones, cash and other items, police said.

Williams was arrested Friday night after fleeing from a traffic stop on the South Side. Police said Williams ran through rear yards on East Boston Avenue and was captured on Brooklyn Avenue.

The 17-year-old burglary suspect, who was also in the car, also ran from police and was captured in a garage on East Boston. Reports describe the teenager as a ninth-grade student at East High School.

The search of Jones’ apartment late Friday turned up a sawed-off shotgun on her bedroom closet floor, as well as a camera and cell phones detectives believe were taken during the home invasion. Also confiscated during the search was a computer game and jewelry believed taken during the burglary, reports show.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court records show Williams was sentenced to six years in prison in July 2003 after being found guilty of felonious assault with a firearm specification and separate gun and drug charges.

In November 2003, Jones was sentenced in common pleas court to 11‚Ñ2 years probation after being found guilty of possession of a dangerous ordnance. The type of ordnance wasn’t immediately known.