Three people were arrested on theft and other charges after one of them called in a report to another location, trying to throw law enforcement off their trail.
Timothy Thompson, 33, of Salem; Steven McGrew, 35, of Goshen; and Sara Myers, 29, of Goshen, are in the Mahoning County jail.
Thompson is facing charges of obstructing official business and theft; McGrew is facing robbery, inducing panic and obstructing official business charges in addition to two counts of driving under suspension and multiple other traffic charges; and Myers is facing robbery and theft charges, according to jail records.
Just before 11 PM Friday, Boardman police were dispatched to Walmart for a shoplifter running from the store, with two other people, headed toward Applebee’s.
The suspect made his way back to the front of the building, grabbing “a handful of Walmart shopping bags from the self-checkout” and continued to another area within the store. He put items from the cart into the bags, placing them back into the shopping cart and proceeded to the front of the store where he was stopped by loss prevention.
The suspect left the cart and ran to the SUV, which “quickly left” the parking lot.
Officers reported seeing the SUV near Applebee’s unlocked with keys in the ignition. Dispatch received a call around that time regarding a “large fight” at Cinema South. Later it was determined the call was made by McGrew to lead officers away from the trio at Applebee’s using Myers’ phone, telling dispatch his name was “Mike.”
Responding officers to the theater found no problems, the report states… The Vindicator