Last Updated on June 22, 2020, 6:55 AM AST by Anthony Morris
In the era of the coronavirus, wearing a mask while walking into a grocery store or walking down the street does not draw attention these days. However, the masks led to another armed robbery when a duo wearing masks, with one of them wearing a Black Panther mask, robbed an elderly man at gunpoint in an East End home.
For the second time in the last week, the law enforcement officers in the area are investigating an armed robbery in this southern Columbiana County.
City police responded to the incident at around 9:45 p.m. on Friday to the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue after two masked subjects had allegedly stolen over $600 in cash from a 68-year-man who had been lying on his couch, according to reports.
Dispatchers received a call about the home invasion-style robbery of the home’s occupants by two men, a black man wearing a Black Panther mask and a caucasian who was wearing a white face scarf.
Witnesses said that they brandished handguns and demanded that the victim to hand over “the money” to them. He complied, and they fled from the scene on foot.
According to John Lane, the Police Chief, the officers were not able to find the robbers.
Although witnesses could not describe the black male any further to the police, they described the white male as around 5’6” or 5’7″, wearing a white T-shirt, black pants or shorts and possibly carrying a small handgun such as a .380.
Witnesses described that both men were skinny and also said that it was the black male who had struck the victim with the gun.
Police also found a set of zip ties on the floor near the elderly man, who was transported to East Liverpool City Hospital, apparently brought for the robbery. The condition of the victim was still unknown.
Last week, two men visiting a Commerce Street residence in Wellsville were shot during a suspected drug deal gone bad. As of the previous report, they were still hospitalized in a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit, where they had been airlifted.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
