Niles police investigate two robberies near Eastwood Mall Wednesday

Staff report

NILES

A man was arrested and two people were injured in two thefts in the Eastwood Mall area about noon Wednesday.

The first theft was at 11:47 a.m. when a loss-prevention officer at Burlington Coat Factory at the mall reported that a male had concealed a purse and walked from the store.

The loss-prevention officer confronted the suspect, and the suspect put the officer in a bear hug. Both men went to the ground, and they struggled until police arrived.

The loss-prevention officer suffered scrapes to his hands.

The suspect, Michael R. Henning, 40, of Potomac Road, was charged with felony robbery and placed in the Trumbull County Jail.

The second theft took place in the parking lot outside of Aspen Dental, 5700 Youngstown Road, at 12:06 p.m. when a male grabbed a woman’s purse as she got out of her car.

The woman, 72, of Warren, tried to keep control of the purse but eventually lost it to the man and suffered broken fingers and a sprained wrist.

She received treatment at St. Joseph Warren Hospital.

The man was wearing a black stocking cap and got into a white Pontiac Sunfire with no license plates, the woman said.