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2 men held in robberies on S. Side
A third suspect in the robberies ran away from police.
YOUNGSTOWN — Two city men are in Mahoning County Justice Center after police say they robbed two women only minutes apart on the city’s South Side.
Police reports say a third man ran off before he could be taken into custody.
Robert Burkey, 18, of Steel Street, and Cody Luckey, 18, of East Philadelphia Avenue, appeared before Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly of Youngstown Municipal Court via video Tuesday morning for an arraignment. They are each charged with two counts of robbery.
Judge Kobly set bail at $20,000 for each. Preliminary hearings have been set for June 11.
According to police, officers were sent to the 3000 block of Market Street just before 11:30 a.m. Monday for a report of a purse-snatching.
A 51-year-old woman told police she was waiting for the bus when two men approached her. One of the men grabbed her purse and the two men ran off, she said, getting into a white car.
Police searched the area but could not find the men. Police believe the duo had moved onto another area of the South Side and onto another victim.
Police reports say a 52-year-old city woman walking in the area of Avondale Avenue near Rush Boulevard just before noon said two men approached her and asked if she had change for $20. The woman told police she told the men no and just kept walking.
One of the men, the woman told police, grabbed her purse from her shoulder, and both men ran down Avondale to Rush.
Officers searching for the two men and the white car spotted the car in a driveway of a vacant home on Philadelphia Avenue. Burkey and another man were on the porch steps of the vacant house, and Luckey was still sitting inside the vehicle.
When officers approached the trio, the third man ran, escaping through nearby yards. Burkey and Luckey were taken into custody.
Officers found the second victim’s purse on the porch of the vacant home but were unable to find the first victim’s purse.
jgoodwin@vindy.com