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Police investigate robberies
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
City police are investigating a series of robberies reported over the weekend.
A 26-year-old Warren man told police he was shot at when he came out of a West Princeton Avenue home at 4 a.m. Sunday and found a group of men rummaging through his 1995 Jaguar car.
The man told police he had just exited a nearby motorcycle club and noticed the men in his car. He told an officer he screamed for the men to get out of his car, but a man driving a Chevrolet Suburban fired a shot at him.
The men in the Jaguar then jumped in the Suburban with one of them firing two more shots at the car owner.
Reports say the Jaguar was damaged and a DVD screen and player removed.
A 22-year-old South Side man told police he was robbed at gunpoint for $7 while walking from a neighborhood store early Saturday.
The man told police he was walking on West Philadelphia when he was approached by two black men in their early 20s, wearing dark clothes. One of the men was carrying a large, black handgun and demanded the man’s money.
The victim handed over $7, but the armed thief fired one shot in the air and threatened to kill the man for not having more money. The two thieves ran away on foot.
A Poland man told police Friday that he was robbed of $500 on the South Side April 5 after picking up a woman he thought he knew.
The man told police he thought he recognized the woman and asked her to get into his car. The woman, reports said, agreed then asked the man if he wanted to party, and he said yes.
The man and woman bought beer and wine then went to a home on Evergreen Avenue where they were met by two black men.
The victim said one of the men asked him to get more money, but he refused. The victim said the man then pulled a gun and demanded he take them to an ATM.
The victim told police the two men made him withdraw $500 from the machine over a five-hour period then suddenly jumped out of his car on Hillman Street and ran away.
It is unclear why the crime was not immediately reported.