Police seek suspects in home invasion and armed robbery

No arrests have been made.

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A home invasion and a separate armed robbery with a shooting have city police looking for more than a half- dozen suspects.

The home invasion and shooting took place within 90 minutes of each other on the South Side over the weekend.

Police were called to the 500 block of Miller Street just after 11:30 p.m. Sunday when a man and woman said five or six armed men came into their home.

According to police, the 31-year-old female was standing in her kitchen when a man she recognized as a friend of the family next door came through a back door with a group of other men wearing face masks. The familiar man told the woman he planned to rob the house.

The man put a gun to the woman’s head and ordered that she hand over all the valuables in the house and not call the police. One of the other males began loading valuables in a large trash bag.

The thieves took video-game systems, a laptop, cell phone and prescription drugs.

The 30-year-old male resident of the home told police he was in the garage when the intruders first entered the home. He told police the men dragged him into the house and beat him.

The men took all the stolen items and ran toward South Avenue. No arrests have been made.

Minutes later at 1 a.m., officers were sent to St. Elizabeth Health Center to talk with a shooting victim. The 35-year-old victim told police he had been the victim of a robbery and shooting in the area of Marmiom and South Avenue.

According to police, the man was walking on South Avenue from a bar when two men walked up to him and said: “You know what it is.” When the man asked what they were talking about, he was shot in the leg.

The man told police that the thieves went through his pockets and took $1,000 in cash. He also said the men fired several shots in his direction that did not hit him as he lay on the ground.

The man was picked up and taken to the hospital by a man passing by.

Police later determined that the shooting victim had an arrest warrant. A police hold was placed on the man while he is in the hospital.

jgoodwin@vindy.com