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Police believe teen participated in rash of area break-ins
By Ed Runyan
McDONALD
Police in Niles, McDonald and Weathersfield Township continue to investigate a rash of break-ins that have occurred in recent weeks — some of which police believe were committed by a 16-year-old Niles boy who delivers newspapers in McDonald and Niles.
Lou Ronghi, McDonald police chief, said police believe the carrier was participating in break-ins in McDonald in the early-morning hours before delivering his Tribune Chronicle newspapers.
Niles police say the 16-year-old is connected to at least one theft in Niles involving a stolen handgun on Russell Avenue in October.
The carrier and a 23-year-old uncharged suspect are believed to be responsible for two burglaries and five break-ins that occurred last Wednesday and Thursday on Sixth Street, Dakota Avenue and Utah Avenue in McDonald, Ronghi said.
Niles police arrested the 16-year-old Friday in connection with the Russell Avenue break-in, Capt. Ken Criswell of the Niles Police Department said.
The 16-year-old was charged with felony receiving stolen property and was taken to the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center.
Charges are pending against the 23-year-old, who is from Niles.
A third male, a 17-year-old from Girard, was taken into custody Wednesday and taken to the Juvenile Justice Center, charged with various offenses related to the break-ins.
In the McDonald thefts, the suspects took a variety of items from sheds and garages. They included tools, snowblowers, pressure washers, a global-positioning device, gas cans and a chainsaw, Ronghi said.
The 17-year-old is believed to have broken into a garage Wednesday, taking a motorized scooter, then rode the scooter back into the village later that day, Ronghi said.
McDonald police recovered the scooter.