Man says home was invaded

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Police took a 54-year-old man who said he was a victim of an armed home invasion to St. Elizabeth Health Center because they said the man repeatedly threatened to kill an acquaintance he believed had orchestrated the crime.

The victim told police he was home watching TV in the 700 block of Wilbur Avenue on the South Side at 11:30 p.m. Thursday when three men ran into his house through the unlocked front door.

One of the robbers wore a mask, placed a gun to the victim’s head and demanded money.

When the victim said he didn’t have any money, the gunman ordered his accomplices to take electronic items from the house, the victim told police.

Taken were a 42-inch TV, a 32-inch TV, a DVD/VCR unit, a stereo and a telephone handset.

The victim, who produced purchase receipts for almost all of the stolen items, said the man he accused of orchestrating the invasion was the only one who knew he had just bought the two flat-screen TVs.

When police encountered the victim, he was en route to confront his acquaintance at an East Florida Avenue residence, and police escorted him back to his Wilbur Avenue home to avoid further trouble, then called an ambulance to take the victim to the hospital “for his homicidal tendencies.”