YOUNGSTOWN — Veteran defense attorney Tom Zena said Thursday that when Samuel D. Arroyo, 19, robbed two couples of their belongings late July 19, 2024, on West Federal Street near Symphony Place, he gave himself up afterward “almost like he wanted to” be arrested. Arroyo was 18 at the time.

Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Arroyo to the defense- and prosecution-agreed-upon sentence of nine to 12 years in prison for the armed, downtown robberies during which he was wearing a mask and pointing a gun at his victims. Arroyo pleaded guilty earlier in the hearing to four counts of aggravated robbery, each with a firearm specification.

Zena said Arroyo was talking to his mother on the phone before the robberies and “just lost it,” telling her, “‘I’m just tired of being poor, just tired of the way things are going.'”

Zena called this an “unusual situation” in which “you never think he would do something like this, and he does it to four people in a row in the … city and then remains there and gets arrested almost like he wanted to.”

Zena told Durkin that after robbing the two couples, Arroyo “had some of the goods, including a bag that was taken from one of the victims. While the victims were being interviewed (by police), he walked up and discarded it.”

A Youngstown police report states that officers called to West Federal Street at 11:41 p.m. for a man and woman who had been robbed. Officers spoke to two sets of victims, who both said they were robbed by a light-skinned man wearing black clothing and a ski mask.

The first couple said they were walking east on West Federal Street near Hazel Street when they were approached by the man, who pointed a handgun at them and demanded “all you got.”

He took a black shoulder bag from the man that had the word “murder” in white embroidery on it. The bag contained a wallet, car keys, two debit cards and a Republic of South Korea identification card. The suspect then fled west on West Federal and then north on North Hazel Street, where he encountered two other people and robbed them also, the report states.

The suspect was described in the same way by the other couple, and he also pointed a gun at them and told them to “give it up.” They handed over a white purse containing an iPhone in a yellow flower case, a debit card and keys to a Toyota.

The man gave up his iPhone and an Ohio State-issued identification card. The suspect then fled north on North Hazel Street. Officers started checking the area and one officer found the white purse in the parking lot near the Social Club on nearby Commerce Street.

As officers spoke to one set of victims at West Federal and Hazel streets, they observed Arroyo walking toward them westbound on West Federal Street, and he matched the description of the suspect. He was wearing the black shoulder bag with the word “murder” on it.

Officers took Arroyo into custody. The other set of victims returned to the area where the officers and Arroyo were, and told officers they saw the suspect again after they were robbed. He was near Phelps and Commerce streets. They lost sight of the suspect, then saw that he was with officers, they said.

Zena reminded Durkin Thursday that an evaluation was carried out on Arroyo to determine if he was competent to stand trial, and he was found competent.

“He hasn’t done really anything to display incompetency, beyond the fact that this is such an unusual situation where you never think he would do something like this,” Zena said.

Zena described Arroyo as being cooperative throughout Zena’s representation of him. “You can’t find a more pleasant kid,” he said. “He’s going to go to prison today. I feel very badly about that punishment. I mean that’s what happens when you do something like this.” He asked Durkin to approve the jointly recommended sentence.

When it was his turn, Arroyo apologized and said he wants to “make myself a better person.” The judge urged Arroyo to take advantage of any prison programs, adding “Obviously you will still be a young man when you get out.”

After officers arrested Arroyo, they found a handgun and marijuana in the black bag, as well as stolen items. Arroyo also had a black ski mask in his pocket. Arroyo told police the gun belonged to his brother, whom he did not identify, the report states.

Arroyo gets credit for nearly 11 months for time served in the Mahoning County jail awaiting trial.