Bank robbery suspect surrenders to cops

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The suspect in the Monday morning robbery of an East Liverpool bank surrendered to police later in the day after he was holed up inside a North Side home for about two hours.

Joseph Derrico, 28, refused to come out of the 1540 Kensington Ave. home after members of the FBI and the Violent Crimes Task Force showed up there just before 4 p.m. looking for him.

A woman who was in the house was taken out in handcuffs and placed in a police vehicle.

Task force members were in the back of the home, calling the man by name – ”Joe” – and telling him to come to the back door with his hands up, and he would not be hurt.

At one point, the man said he feared for his dog. After that retort, police called for the Mahoning Valley Crisis Response Team, and it in turn called for “The Bear,” an armored vehicle, to come to the scene.

CRT members arrived and assembled as Derrico continued to refuse to come out of the house, at one point saying, “I don’t want to die.” Police assured him he would not be hurt.

Just as The Bear arrived, Derrico surrendered peacefully.

Special Agent Todd Werth, in charge of the FBI office in Youngstown, said the suspect also was wanted on several warrants in Mahoning County and Youngstown.

Werth said police came to the home because of information they received from interviewing people in connection with the 9:22 a.m. robbery of the Home Savings and Loan on Broadway Street in East Liverpool.

In the robbery, the suspect gave a teller a note demanding money, got some cash and ran away. There were no injuries.

The woman who was handcuffed was released later without charges. Werth said she was cuffed as a precaution when task force members showed up.

Officers booked Derrico into the Mahoning County jail. His case is set for arraignment today.