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Youngstown jewelry store owner shoots heist suspect
BOARDMAN
Township police were searching for a suspect Wednesday after an attempted jewelry heist at a Market Street store in which the business owner reportedly shot someone who then got away.
Police were dispatched to Cirelli Jewelers, 5903 Market St., at 11:18 p.m. Tuesday, according to a police report. There, they discovered “fresh droplets of blood” in the parking lot, a “second, large concentrated pool of blood” in the parking lot of a nearby business, shell casings and the lock cylinder missing from the front door.
Police also recovered nearly $100,000 worth of jewelry the suspect reportedly stored in a backpack and then tried to steal, but which he dropped after being shot.
The business owner, whose home is attached to Cirelli Jewelers, told police that he saw a man inside the store via video surveillance, which he checked after his burglar alarm sounded.
The business owner then retrieved a handgun, according to the report, and came face to face with the man as he was exiting the business. Fearing for his safety after the man rushed toward him, the owner told police he fired seven to eight rounds – at least one of which hit the suspect.
Police believe the man was picked up in a vehicle after fleeing the jewelry store and running to a parking lot just north of where they found the pool of blood, according to the report.
Police alerted area hospitals to look out for a male with gunshot wounds, possibly to the right shoulder. The suspect is described in the report as a black male wearing a gray/blue shirt and jeans.
Most of the incident was caught on video surveillance, the police report said.
Police did not have any leads on the man as of Wednesday afternoon.
Instances in which a business owner discharges a weapon during a burglary aren’t particularly common in Boardman, said Police Chief Jack Nichols.
“I can’t really remember a business owner [doing that] in recent history,” he said.