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Live feed helps police nab suspect

City homeowner watched robbery on surveillance system

YOUNGSTOWN — Edmund L. Johnson, 57, listed as homeless, is likely to be arraigned today in Youngstown Municipal Court on various charges after he was arrested Sunday night breaking into a home on East Midlothian Boulevard.

According to a Youngstown police report, a woman called 911 at 9:13 p.m. to report she was watching a man burglarize her home on a live feed from her surveillance system.

An officer went to the rear of the home and found a book bag on the back porch and a broken window with curtains sticking out. The officer could hear things being thrown around in the home and lights being turned on and off, the report states.

As more officers arrived, as well as the resident, the front door of the home opened, and a man, later identified as Johnson, was ordered to come out of the house.

Johnson then slammed the door and tried to run toward the rear of the home and climb out the window, where he was met by two Youngstown police officers. Johnson then went back in the house.

Officers used the key provided by the resident and went into the house through the front door. Johnson then did a “swan dive” out of a first-floor window, where he was arrested by three police officers.

On Johnson’s person were a TV remote, purple glasses, AirPods, bluetooth speaker and the security camera the resident was using to view his movements in the house. In the walkway of the home, there was a television wrapped in a blanket at the front door where he initially tried to exit the home.

Johnson refused to identify himself to police other than to give his middle name, Lavan, and was hostile toward police. All of the items that had been taken were given back to the victim, and Johnson was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and treated for possible mental health issues.

Later, police pulled up information on Johnson from earlier 2023 police reports that helped identify him. Johnson has warrants for his arrest through the Ohio Parole Authority for aggravated robbery and burglary from the 1980s, the report states.

Ohio prison and Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles images confirmed Johnson’s identity, and Johnson also later confirmed his identity, police said.

Police listed charges against him on a report, but Youngstown Municipal Court records did not list him as having any new charges as of Tuesday morning. It is unclear when he will be arraigned on the new charges.

Johnson has no recent criminal cases in Youngstown Municipal Court or Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He was sentenced to 5 to 25 years in prison in March 1995 on each of two counts of aggravated burglary by Judge Peter Economus. Johnson had an address on Rush Boulevard at the time.

Judge James Evans also sentenced Johnson to 10 years in prison in October 2022 after Johnson was found guilty by a jury of aggravated robbery.

According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction website, Johnson is a “violator at large” and under Ohio Adult Parole Authority supervision because of criminal cases handled by Economus and Evans.

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