2 South Side robberies probed

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Police are investigating two robberies in the city, one involving a gun.

A 23-year-old South Side man told police Thursday he was walking along East Avondale Avenue on the South Side at 8 p.m. Wednesday when a man familiar to him asked if he knew anyone selling a flat-screen TV. The victim told the man no, but the man pulled out a gun and demanded his wallet.

The robber ran off with the man’s wallet containing $7, an identification card, Social Security card and a debit card. The man told police he was not going to report the matter to police at all, but he did not want anyone to use his Social Security card.

A 43-year-old South Side woman told police her purse was snatched from her shoulder after leaving a South Avenue bar early Friday.

Police found the woman waiting in front of another bar with a bloodied face.

The woman told police she was leaving the bar in the 2800 block of South Avenue 1:30 a.m. walking with a man with whom she is not familiar. The man asked for a cigarette and snatched the purse as the woman retrieved a cigarette from her purse.

Police say the woman likely sustained injuries after falling to the sidewalk when the man snatched the purse.