Macy's Black Friday theft case leads to two arrests

BOARDMAN — A Youngstown woman faces a robbery charge after police said they found a gun in her purse during a shoplifting incident at Macy’s.

According to a police report, officers were dispatched to the store in the Southern Park Mall shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday.

A store employee told police he saw a woman, later identified as Jillian Russell, 34, of Lakewood Avenue, pick out 12 pieces of store merchandise totaling $702.82, then go to a register where a store employee pretended to scan the items but did not.

Russell was apprehended as she was leaving the store. She was arrested for theft, but police then discovered she had an active concealed carry permit, prompting them to ask if she had her gun on her, according to the report.

Police then located a gun in her purse, they said.

Due to her having a deadly weapon in her possession while suspected of committing a theft, Russell was charged with robbery, according to the report. She also was charged with a concealed weapon offense for “failing to promptly notify a law enforcement officer that she was in possession of her concealed weapon.”

Also Thursday, police arrested Shelby Storey, 22, of Youngstown on a theft charge. She is the Macy’s employee suspected of assisting Russell.