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Four men charged in two Warren robberies, one attempted robbery
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Four men are being held without bond in the Trumbull County jail after being arraigned Monday in connection with two store robberies and an attempted store robbery Saturday.
Not-guilty pleas were entered for all four in Warren Municipal Court.
The first robbery took place at 12:28 a.m. Saturday at the LLC Market, 1104 Palmyra Road, in which two men wearing masks and holding handguns entered through the drive-through window and got about $1,000 in quarters, other cash from a register and two cases of cigars.
A Warren police officer was in the area and he spotted two men running north on Parkman from the store, both wearing masks.
As the officer followed the two, one of them stumbled and dropped a plastic bag. Change fell on the grass. He dropped the bag and continued running.
A short time later, officers arrested one of the men, Christohn J. Harvey, 18, of Maple Heights, near the Trumbull Community Action Program building on Palmyra Road. Harvey dropped a loaded handgun and got on the ground when police confronted him.
Harvey was charged with aggravated robbery, carrying a concealed weapon and receiving stolen property and was taken to the county jail.
The other suspect was not captured.
An attempted robbery occurred about 90 minutes later, at 1:55 a.m. Saturday at the Sunoco gas station, 805 W. Market St.
A man with a gun got out of a car that pulled up to the gas pumps and told an employee who was outside of the store to follow him to the back of the store. The employee said he believed he was going to be robbed.
The employee refused to go with the suspect, which caused the suspect to say, “I’ll shoot you.” The employee said, “I don’t care ... shoot me,” police reported. The suspect then told the employee, “I’m going to prison anyway.”
When another customer arrived to get gas, the suspect got back in the passenger seat of the car, and the car pulled away.
Police later found a vehicle matching the description of the one involved in the attempted robbery on nearby Cherry Avenue Northwest. John E. Boyers, 35, of Cherry Avenue came out of the house a short time later.
Police found a second man, Patrick W. McCombs, 27, of Peace Avenue Northwest, hiding near a dryer in the basement, and he was arrested. Police found two handguns in the basement near where McCombs was hiding.
Boyers was charged with robbery, and McCombs was charged with aggravated robbery.
The third incident occurred at 8:25 p.m. Saturday at the Fastway Drive Thru, 1432 Parkman Road NW, in which a man wearing a black mask robbed the store at gunpoint.
Police were advised of the direction the man went and found Timmon D. Wade, 25, of Woodland Avenue Northeast walking along Bingham Avenue Northwest. He was sweating and carrying a hooded sweatshirt that matched the description given by an employee of the store. Police found a book bag and firearm in woods nearby. They also found two holes in a bandanna in the hood of the sweatshirt that they believe was used as a mask.
Wade was arrested without incident and taken to the county jail, where he was charged with aggravated robbery.