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Man indicted in two downtown break-ins

YOUNGSTOWN — Tshombe Miller Jr., 20, of Youngstown and Warren, was indicted Thursday on two counts of breaking and entering and two counts of misdemeanor theft.

The charges stem from two incidents at the Downtown Circle Deli, 116 W. Federal St. downtown.

Youngstown police reports from that weekend indicate that Miller was involved in incidents late March 31 at the Wick Towers, 34 W. Federal Street, and early April 1 at the Downtown Circle Deli.

The Wick Towers incident involved allegations that Miller was trespassing in a vacant apartment in the building. When officers entered the apartment, Miller “made himself known to us,” and he was arrested but later released from the Mahoning County jail on the low-level misdemeanor charge of criminal trespassing.

About three hours after the arrest at the Wick Towers, a man was spotted on surveillance video from the Downtown Circle Deli near the Wick Towers walking around inside the business. The video showed the man entering the store through a previously broken window, taking vapes, cash from the register and other items from behind the counter, according to a Youngstown police report.

When officers got there, the man was gone, but an officer concluded that the man in the Downtown Circle video appeared similar to Miller, whom he had arrested about three hours earlier. The man in the Downtown Circle incident was wearing a distinct hooded sweatshirt that was identical to the one Miller was wearing when he was arrested at the Wick Towers, according to a Youngstown police report.

The owner of Downtown Circle said between $400 and $6,000 was missing from the register.

Nick Menichini, a Youngstown police detective, said Youngstown police arrested Miller at the Western Reserve Transit Authority bus station downtown early April 1, and he was still wearing the same hooded sweatshirt.

He said surveillance video also showed that Miller was the person who broke into the Circle Deli on March 29, and that is the reason he was charged with two counts of breaking and entering. The theft charges also related to the Circle Deli break-ins, he said.

Others indicted Thursday are:

• Darnell Jennings, 27, East Lucius Avenue, strangulation, aggravated drug possession and misdemeanor assault.

• Phillip D. Scandy, 64, Laurel Avenue, Lake Milton, aggravated drug possession.

• Timothy A. Rollison Jr., 37, Savannah Court, Canfield, aggravated drug possession.

• Vincent L. Lewis, 51, East Florida Avenue, assault, harassment with a bodily substance and obstructing official business.

• Jerome T. Bryant, 33, Donald Avenue, cocaine possession.

• Dylan J. Mastronikolas, 19, North Dunlap Avenue, theft.

• Antwan D. Grissett, 23, Manchester Avenue, failure to comply with the order of a police officer, tampering with evidence, having weapons while not allowed, two counts of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and one count of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them.

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