Saturday, December 31, 2011
Staff report
Austintown
Police charged one man and have suspects in several other township burglaries.
Police charged Anthony R. DiVencenzo Jr., 29, of Austintown, on Wednesday with two counts of burglary in break-ins Dec. 19 and Dec. 22 at two homes on Barkley Avenue, Capt. Bryan Kloss said.
Kloss said before DiVencenzo’s arrest, DiVencenzo also was reportedly seen leaving the scene of a break-in at a Mahoning Avenue home about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
A 30-year-old man called police to report his home had been broken into while he slept.
The victim told police he and his 23-year-old girlfriend — DiVencenzo’s ex-girlfriend — were on the home’s second floor when they heard a loud noise on the first floor.
The couple looked outside and saw DiVencenzo walking away from the house, according to a police report. A Playstation 3 was reported missing.
Kloss said detectives named DiVencenzo as a suspect in that crime, as well as a possible suspect in at least two burglaries from late November and early December.
Police are looking for three men involved in an aggravated burglary about 11:55 p.m. Thursday, Kloss said.
Just before the incident occurred, the 18-year-old victim told police he’d received text messages from the suspect advising he was outside the front door.
The victim said he opened the door and saw three men in the hallway.
One of the suspects then entered the apartment and pulled out a silver semiautomatic handgun, pointing it at the victim. The victim grabbed for the gun, causing a struggle, according to a police report.
Several others witnessed the incident, including a friend of the victim at the apartment and the victim’s mother and sister, who came from the adjoining apartment upon hearing commotion from the struggle, the report said.
At some point during the struggle, one round was fired into the floor, but no one was injured.
Police located the bullet inside the apartment of the tenant who lives below the victim.
The suspects eventually fled the apartment, but police said the victim was able to identify them.