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Trial is set for suspect police tie to 50 crimes in NE Ohio, western Pa.
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Taylor III
CLEVELAND
The federal trial of a Youngstown man who police say is connected to about 50 robberies in Ohio and Pennsylvania will begin Monday in U.S. District Court.
Isiah Taylor III, 43, also known as “Speedy,” is facing one count of conspiracy, three counts of obstructing interstate commerce and one count of knowingly using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, according to a Dec. 20, 2011, federal indictment.
The numerous robbery accusations are listed under the conspiracy charge as “overt acts” of the conspiracy, according to the indictment.
Taylor first faced robbery charges in 2001, when he and James Edward Scott were accused of trying to take the safe at a Union Township, Pa., Burger King.
The next time he was a robbery suspect was in September 2006. That month, police and court records show that Taylor and his unnamed co-conspirators are accused of taking $900 from Dollar Tree in Boardman, attempting to rob a Boardman Wendy’s fast food restaurant, taking $730 from a motel in Kent and attempting to rob Vitamin World in Niles and Perkins in Liberty.
“Through the years, we suspect that he was pretty prolific. He’s been on the radar screen for quite a while. He allegedly specialized in night-deposit robberies,” said Boardman police Chief Jack Nichols.
The robberies outlined in a 21-page federal indictment continued for years.
In 2006, a lottery store reported a robber getting away with $2,794, and a tuxedo shop reported a $1,300 loss.
The next year, Taylor is accused of taking $5,500 from the Wing Warehouse in Akron, $11,000 from Tractor Supply Co. in Hermitage, Pa. and $2,119 from Sbarro Pizza in Boardman. In 2008, more robberies were reported, including one in which $3,640 was taken from Belleria Pizza on Youngstown-Poland Road.
The last robbery listed in the indictment occurred April 1, 2009.
Two female employees of Purpose Money on U.S. Route 224 in Boardman told police a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and black bandana tied around his face approached them when they left the store to close, police said.
The man demanded money and ended up shoving both women to the ground before fleeing on a bicycle with their purses, according to reports. A witness saw the man get into a silver Cadillac, which was registered to Taylor, records state.
Police stopped the car that day, and Taylor was charged with aggravated robbery. His case in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court was dismissed more than two years later without prejudice as charges were prepared in federal court.
Nichols said Boardman police worked with the FBI and other jurisdictions on the case.
“The whole case was put together completely because of the task-force affiliation with the FBI,” Nichols said.
In addition to the lengthy federal indictment, Taylor has been accused of a crime other than robbery: murder.
In 1989, Taylor pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to eight to 25 years in prison. Taylor was accused of fatally shooting his uncle several hours after the uncle had purportedly slain Taylor’s aunt.