Robbery has strained lives, victims tell Trumbull judge

Staff report

WARREN

The experience of being robbed inside your own home isn’t easily forgotten, the victim of one such Niles robbery told Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

The elderly woman spoke Tuesday just before Corey C. Monroe, 19, of Belvedere Avenue, Warren, was sentenced to six years in prison for a home invasion and burglary at her home, and for Monroe’s part in the armed robbery of the Dunkin’ Donuts store on Niles-Cortland Road in Howland Township.

The woman and her husband installed a security system after the June 24, 2011, burglary, she said.

“When the alarm goes off by accident, my husband and I go into fear mode,” the woman said.

Both she and her husband have sought counseling to cope with the fear they felt after Monroe threatened to kill them while holding a firearm, she said. Her husband now is dealing with severe depression.

A second woman said she was a customer inside the Dunkin’ Donuts at 4:30 a.m. May 4, 2011, when Monroe and an accomplice robbed the store.

The fear she felt from having a gun in her face has caused her to suffer headaches, she said.

Monroe gave a statement also, saying he was sorry for the people he offended. His attorney, John Fowler, said Monroe was a heroin addict and was on the drug at the time of the crimes.

Judge Logan said Monroe’s sentence probably “should be even longer,” but he decided on six years because Monroe is so young.

Daniel P. Hoolihan Jr., 20, of Edgewood Drive, Warren, who admitted committing the crimes with Monroe, will be sentenced Jan. 31.

Samantha Phillips, 19, of Edgehill Drive, also is charged in the Dunkin’ Donuts robbery. She worked in the restaurant and helped plan it, police said.

She’s the employee who was robbed and who gave the robbers the money from the safe, police said.