Tuesday, December 21, 2010
YOUNGSTOWN
Police are investigating and looking for armed suspects in three separate weekend robberies.
According to police, a black man wearing dark sweat pants, a hooded sweat shirt and a dark ski mask walked into the Family Dollar store on Glenwood Avenue late Sunday night and robbed the business at gunpoint.
Two employees working at the discount store told police they were outside smoking just before the store closing and were followed back into the store by the armed suspect.
The man grabbed the female employee, pointed a gun at the male employee and demanded money from the store safe and cash register.
The armed thief was startled by two customers coming into the store. He ran from the store after briefly pointing the gun at the two customers.
Officers followed fresh prints in the snow and a trail of money that led to a clear spot on Reel Street where a car had been parked.
Police also are looking for the man responsible for robbing at gunpoint a 26-year-old man not far from his West Side home.
Police were sent to the 1900 block of Ridgelawn Avenue early Monday morning to speak with the robbery victim, who said he had been walking along Brockway Avenue when an SUV pulled alongside him.
A man with whom he is familiar jumped from the vehicle, pulled a gun and demanded money.
The victim told police the armed man pulled $137 from his wallet then threw the wallet to the ground. The victim ran to the Ridgelawn area and called police.
Police also are still looking for three men who broke into a home on Rosewood Avenue on Friday.
The men ran out of the house before taking anything when they noticed police had arrived.
The 53-year-old homeowner said she was driving to work at 7 p.m. when she received a phone call from her 23-year-old daughter saying that the three men, two of whom she knows, had broken a window and unlocked a side door to enter the house. The daughter ran into a closet and called police.
The daughter said she could hear the men talking and kicking her dogs before becoming startled by police and running out of the house.
The daughter told police one of the men previously had threatened her.