South Side food thief held by neighbors for police

YOUNGSTOWN

A man suspected of stealing food out of a Hilton Avenue home four times within a week – including sometime Wednesday – was found by a group of residents Wednesday who then held him down until police arrived.

Jacob Merchant, 32, who reports said is homeless, is in the Mahoning County jail on charges of criminal trespass, theft and receiving stolen property as well as a warrant from an earlier case for failure to appear. He is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.

Reports said officers Mohammad Awad and Travis Sheely were called about 8:40 p.m. to a vacant home in the 200 block of East Judson Avenue, where Merchant was being held down by two men. Concerned citizens in the area were searching for the man they thought was breaking into the home in the 200 block of Hilton Avenue, where food had been taken every time.

In a burglary earlier this week, about $100 worth of groceries was taken, and police found some of the food in a nearby vacant home. In a burglary last week a half-eaten meal was left behind and roll of toilet paper and bottle of wine was taken along with the food.

Read more about the case in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.