Teens charged with Struthers business break-in

STRUTHERS — Police arrested two teenagers in connection with breaking and entering reported Wednesday from Vapor Express on Youngstown-Poland Road. They are searching for a third juvenile implicated in the break-in.

Parents contacted police Wednesday after reading a news story about a break-in at the store and seeing their son had a new "vape pen." A Niles woman told police her 15-year-old son, Tyler Penwell, admitted to breaking into the store along with his 18-year-old friend.

Police arrested Mikel Miller, 18, of Struthers and charged him with two counts of breaking and entering. He was taken to the Mahoning County jail.

Penwell faces one charge of breaking and entering through the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.

According to a police report, Miller's clothes at the time of the arrest matched clothing worn by a suspect in the business' surveillance footage. Penwell told police Miller used part of a spark plug to shatter the store's window while a third juvenile kept watch, police reported. The third juvenile has not yet been apprehended, but police said charges against him are pending.

Acting on a information from Penwell, officers found various "vape" accessories hidden in a backpack in a vacant city apartment, police said.