Hearing set for robbery suspects

Staff report

BOARDMAN

The two Youngstown teens accused of robbing a group of teens at Taco Bell will be in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Aaron M. Williams, 18, of Clarencedale Avenue, and Malcomjumal Alfred Dates, 18, of Potomac Avenue, are both charged with aggravated robbery. Both are in Mahoning County jail on $50,000 bond after arraignments earlier this week.

Police said six teens, ranging in age from 16 to 18, called officers to Taco Bell, 458 Boardman-Canfield Road, about 11:35 p.m. Monday and said they were robbed. The teens told police they were sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot when a man approached them, asked for directions to Camelot Lanes, walked away and then turned to display a silver pistol, saying “Give me all of your money and stuff,” reports state.

A second male suspect opened vehicle doors where some of the teens were sitting and grabbed a Blackberry phone, according to reports. The victims yelled for police and the two suspects fled, police said.

Police said a Mahoning County deputy sheriff spotted a car speeding through the Giant Eagle parking lot with two passengers in the back seat who matched the suspects’ descriptions. The deputy stopped the car, which was driven by a female juvenile and had a female juvenile front passenger, reports state.

A witness told officers that they saw a passenger throw a gun out of the car window, and officers recovered the weapon. The stolen Blackberry phone was located inside the car, according to reports.

Police said the two female juveniles were extremely upset and after altering their stories slightly, fully cooperated. The girls said they planned to meet one of the victims at Taco Bell to purchase drugs and asked Williams and Dates to go with them, reports state.

Police said the girls told officers that Williams and Dates asked to be dropped off a short distance away from Taco Bell, while the girls continued to the parking lot to purchase drugs, and after the girls spoke with one of the victims, he walked away and “commotion broke out.” The girls are not charged with any crime.

The victims said they didn’t remember seeing the girls and didn’t see a vehicle, according to reports.