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2 Pa. men nabbed in Columbiana AT&T heist

CANFIELD — Trey D. Bell, 34, of Pittsburgh, was arraigned Tuesday in Mahoning County Area Court in Canfield on charges of aggravated robbery, kidnapping, receiving stolen property and possessing criminal tools for allegedly robbing the AT&T store in Oakmont Plaza in Columbiana on Friday afternoon.

It is one of multiple robberies he is accused of committing recently.

If Bell is convicted of the charges in Columbiana, he could get about 20 years in prison. Mahoning County Canfield Court Judge Molly Johnson set Bell’s bond at $25,000 and ordered that he be subject to electronically monitored house arrest if he posts bond and that he have no contact with the victim or the AT&T store, court records show.

Also arraigned Tuesday was Kenneth Littlejohn, 36, of Ambridge, Pa., who is also accused of being part of the robbery. The (Lisbon) Morning Journal reported Tuesday that Bell and Littlejohn are charged in the case.

Johnson set bond for Littlejohn at $4,000 on his charges of receiving stolen property and possessing criminal tools, both felonies. Bell and Littlejohn are scheduled for preliminary hearings at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Both men remained in the Mahoning County jail Wednesday morning, according to jail records.

The Beaver Township Police Department in Mahoning County is the arresting agency on the changes for both men.

Oakmont Plaza is located within the city of Columbiana, which has a portion within Mahoning County, the Morning Journal reported in explaining why the Beaver Township Police Department is handling the case.

The Facebook page of the Allegheny County, Pa., Police Department first reported that Bell was in the Mahoning County jail, saying Bell was wanted in connection to the robbery of the T-Mobile store in Grafton, Pa., and that Bell was taken into custody Saturday in Youngstown.

That agency did not mention that Bell’s arrest in Youngstown was related to a separate robbery allegation from Columbiana.

According to the Morning Journal, the Beaver Township Police Department reported that township officers overheard Columbiana police seeking the services of a police canine shortly after the Columbiana robbery.

The men allegedly entered the store, brandished a handgun and fled with a number of electronic devices such as phones, Fitbits and watches, the newspaper reported.

One of the men, clad in a camouflage mask, fled on foot into a wooded area. Within the hour, officers had traced the electronics to the Davis Motel on Market Street near the Ohio Turnpike in North Lima.

Columbiana, Beaver and Boardman police and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers responded to the motel, where they took Bell and Littlejohn into custody at gunpoint, the newspaper reported.

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