Police suspect crime string

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Bond was set at $500,000 for one suspect.

YOUNGSTOWN — An 18-year-old man already under indictment and a juvenile boy — both accused of using guns to rob a drugstore in Cornersburg — are suspects in other holdups, police said.

Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives, said Jeffrey D. Caulton, 18, of Norwood Avenue, and Eric Williams, aka Eric Talbot, no age or address available, were possibly involved in other robberies in Youngstown and Boardman.

Caulton and Williams were arrested Tuesday afternoon on Eddy Street, not long after two gunmen robbed Family Discount Drugs on Canfield Road in Cornersburg around 1 p.m. The robbers grabbed a large quantity of OxyContin — more than 1,600 pills — other controlled substances and $350 in cash, police said.

A witness told police the suspects left in a light-blue Dodge Intrepid. Patrolman Dave Santangelo spotted the car in the driveway of a house in the 2600 block of Eddy Street and called for backup.

What happened next

Williams was taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center to face an aggravated-robbery charge, Centorame said.

Caulton, also charged with aggravated robbery, was arraigned Wednesday in municipal court. Magistrate Anthony Sertick Jr. set bond at $500,000.

Caulton will be back in court Jan. 25 for a preliminary hearing.

The assistant prosecutor told the magistrate that police believe Caulton's intent was to sell the OxyContin.

Three months ago, Caulton was indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury and charged with receiving stolen property, a 1995 Oldsmobile, records show. At the time of his arrest, his address was listed as Plazaview Court.

A bench warrant was issued Nov. 20, 2006, when he failed to appear for a pretrial.

Municipal court records show that his bond in the stolen-property case had been set at $5,000.

Thursday, January 18, 2007