Akron boys hid in JCPenney after hours, steal jewelry, police say - cleveland.com
AKRON, Ohio -- A 16-year-old boy and 14-year-old boy hid in a JCPenney at Chapel Hill Mall after the store closed and were later arrested with pockets full of stolen jewelry, Akron police said.
The robbery happened shortly before 11 p.m. at the store on Brittain Road near Independence Avenue and Buchholzer Boulevard.
The boys are charged with breaking and entering, theft, criminal damaging, criminal trespassing and carrying a concealed weapon, Akron police Lt. Rick Edwards said.
Officers responded to the mall on a report of an alarm and noticed a broken glass door on the north side of the building.
The officers discovered that someone smashed the jewelry counters and took several pieces of jewelry. A JCPenney representative was called to the scene.
Investigators determined the robbers stayed inside the store after closing and broke into the counters after the employees left. They also used a hammer to break the door before running out of the store.
Akron police received a call from Summa Health's St. Thomas Hospital after two boys flagged down hospital police and said that they needed to get out of the cold weather.
Both of the boys had pieces of jewelry with JCPenney tags on them, knives and one had an unloaded gun, police said.
They were taken into custody.
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