YOUNGSTOWN — Police say they don’t know of any reason to think it’s connected to COVID-19 fears, but the number of armed robberies, home invasions and assaults involving weapons over the weekend rose to high levels.

Lt. Brian Welsh of the detective bureau of the Youngstown Police Department said a clearer picture of what happened might emerge after detectives investigate the cases. “We don’t know the motive behind it,” he said.

Just before noon Sunday, a city man drove up to the front door of the Schenley Carry Out on Mahoning Avenue and was confronted by a male he knows, who asked for money.

The victim wouldn’t give him any money, so the suspect, who is about 40, opened the victim’s car door and reached into the victim’s pockets and started punching him.

The victim then hit the gas pedal with his foot, causing the vehicle to lurch forward and destroy a soda machine between the car and the store.

Security footage showed the attack, police said.

At 11:17 a.m. Sunday, a woman said she was at Albert Street and McGuffey Road arguing with a man she knows while sitting in her car. That’s when the man came over to her driver’s door, pulled a gun and held it to her head and neck area, then hit her about three times in the back of the head.

At 7:29 p.m. Sunday, a city woman, 36, reported going to a Lanterman Avenue address to meet a man she had talked to on Facebook. The man, about 20 years old, emerged from the bushes, got in her car, pulled a gun and took two iPhones from her, saying: “This is a robbery, and I will shoot you.”

At 10:07 p.m. Sunday, a man told police he heard two gunshots around 8:30 p.m. on Forest View Drive and saw a male wearing an orange beanie in the area.

Then the witness saw a brown dog wearing a collar that had apparently been shot in one paw. The dog was taken to the Mahoning County pound. A truck parked nearby also had a shattered window, apparently also from the gunfire.

At 12:07 a.m. Sunday, a resident of Atkinson Avenue reported that his house was hit by gunfire after he heard a car leaving the area. Police found a bullet hole in the front of the house.

At 4:57 a.m. Saturday on Mumford Drive, a man, 65, reported two males entered his house through the bathroom window. One put a gun to his head and told him to keep his head in his pillow. They took his wallet, cellphone, television and left. One man who brandished the gun wore a mask.

At 7:41 p.m. Friday, a woman reported that her brother assaulted her and threatened her with a gun. She said she was trying to back her car out of the driveway on Potomac Avenue when he arrived in his car.

He yelled at her to hurry up so he could pull in the driveway, then waved a gun around while threatening her. She showed police a video that showed her brother with a gun while pacing and screaming, police said. He returned while police were there and was arrested.

At 1:58 p.m. Friday, a woman, 27, reported being shot in the hand at a home on West Boston Avenue. She said she heard arguing across the street and yelled over to two men and asked what they were arguing about.

One replied to mind her own business and walked toward her while pulling out a gun, so she put her hands up in the air and turned to walk away. He fired once, hitting her in the hand, then ran away.

At 3:44 p.m. Friday, a man, 59, on East Avondale Avenue reported that two men came to his house, pushed him inside, demanded $100 that he said his son owes them, and assaulted him in his head and body. Police said the man had bruising to his lip and side of his face. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for treatment.

erunyan@tribtoday.com