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Possible link in Liberty robberies
Liberty
Police now see a “strong possibility” that two armed robberies, one in a residential area and the other behind a Belmont Avenue business, are linked, Police Chief Richard Tisone said Monday.
“We’re looking at two to three theories on what happened that night,” Tisone said.
Both victims, one a 56-year-old man living on the 3000 block of St. Andrews Drive and the other a 21-year-old employee at Antone’s Restaurant at 3551 Belmont Ave., told police two men were involved in each incident Friday, according to police.
In both robberies, the suspects knocked the victims in the head.
The first robbery, Tisone said, occurred about 10 p.m. when two males emerged from the densely wooded area in the middle of the cul-de-sac around which St. Andrews Drive circles.
The victim was outside with his two dogs when the suspects emerged, one aiming a handgun at him, Tisone said.
The suspects then ordered the victim to let them inside his home. When the victim refused, one of the men struck him on the forehead with the weapon, Tisone said.
Tisone said the victim believed one of his two dogs attacked the men before they fled south toward Fifth Avenue.
The victim, bleeding from the large gash, was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center. As of Monday, he had been released, according to the hospital.
At that point, police said it’s possible for the suspects to have arrived in time to commit the second robbery, which occurred no more than 20 minutes later.
“You’re within a 10- to 15-minute walking distance from there,” Tisone said.
He said it was very possible the suspects turned west on Ravine Drive and cut through property along Arbor Circle or taken Fifth Avenue to Goldie Road to Belmont Avenue.
The employee of the restaurant told police while he was walking to his car with a bank deposit bag, one of the two suspects hit him in the back of the head, which knocked him to the ground, a police report said.
He told police one of them asked “Where’s the money?”
After grabbing the deposit bag, the two fled south.
The employee refused medical treatment, according to the report.
The canine unit, Girard and Youngstown police aided in the search for the two men, but they were not found.
Tisone said Monday detectives were hoping to interview both victims, seeking more information that could link the crimes.