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Youngstown police investigate beating, attempted shooting
YOUNGSTOWN
An attempted shooting, a beating and robbery, and the theft of a security guard’s gun right out of the holster are some of the holiday weekend crimes Youngstown police are investigating.
A 74-year-old man working security at Homestead Park on Dewey Avenue was robbed of his handgun by a teenage boy Sunday.
Reports say the boy told the security guard that someone had been robbed inside the park just before 9 p.m. The guard told police he started to walk toward the area of the alleged robbery when the boy took the gun from the holster attached to his belt and ran away.
The security guard was unable to catch the fleeing teenager but did give police the serial number and all information concerning the gun.
Police are looking for the man who shot at a 28-year-old city man riding a mini motorcycle on the sidewalk in the area of Florida and South avenues Saturday evening.
The victim told police he was riding the motorcycle just after 8 p.m. when he heard a series of gunshots and realized a man he recognized was shooting at him from a gray Dodge Charger. The victim dived off of the motorcycle for cover.
Officers noted a brush burn on the victim’s forehead, scrapes on his knees and a hole in his jean shorts where a bullet narrowly missed him, but went through his pants. The man refused treatment from ambulance workers.
Police found six 9mm shell casings in the area of the shooting.
A 31-year-old East Side man told police he was beaten and robbed while with a group of people he considered friends Saturday afternoon.
The man, who police say was highly intoxicated and may have been using illegal drugs, told officers he was on South Heights Avenue with two males and one female Saturday when one of the men pulled out a gun and demanded his money. The trio began beating him with a baseball bat and fists before taking $50 and a cellular phone.
Police found the man at a nearby bar where he had gone to call police. He was bleeding from the right ear with abrasions on the left side of his face. The man was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment.