BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Authorities say they may have nabbed the nucleus of a ring of bandits responsible for as many as 30 area robberies.
Police investigating the five-month string of robberies have closed at least eight cases with arrests and have filed charges against at least four suspects.
Police have been tight-lipped so far because there are more arrests to come, Springdale Detective Jim Grindle said.
The picture emerging of the gang of robbers is a group of young men who work in pairs and are not afraid to use violence to overpower employees during robberies, police said.
Several clerks have been pistol-whipped. One suspect is accused of shooting a clerk in the arm.
That suspect is 17-year-old Aaron Bolden of Norwood, who has a hearing scheduled Monday in Hamilton County Juvenile Court to decide whether he should be bound over and tried in adult court. He faces charges of receiving stolen property -- allegedly a stolen gun -- felonious assault and three counts of aggravated robbery. Police say he shot a clerk, Jeff Mlinar, 24, in the arm July 31 at Paddock Road Drive Thru in Bond Hill.
Mr. Bolden also is the suspect in a recent holdup of an area Check 'N Go and the July 1 robbery of the Burger King in Forest Park.
A breakthrough in the investigation came last week, when police captured Errich Mincy, who had spent two months as a fugitive wanted in connection with the robberies.
Mr. Mincy, 20, of Kennedy Heights, faces charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated menacing and felony domestic violence. He is accused of pistol-whipping a clerk June 12 at J&K Pony Keg in Pleasant Ridge.
Police arrested him Aug. 18, along with a friend, Kenneth Singleton Jr., 18, of Bond Hill. Mr. Singleton faces an obstructing justice charge for allegedly driving Mr. Mincy around despite knowing he was wanted. Police also suspect Mr. Singleton is part of the robbery gang.
The fourth suspect is Jason Haynes, 20, of Bond Hill. Police charged him Monday with kidnapping and aggravated robbery in a June 18 case. Police say he forced a man to drive from Shell Food Mart in Paddock Hills to the victim's employer's store -- Just For Feet in Springdale. When Mr. Haynes couldn't get into the store, he allegedly released the victim in Norwood after taking his cell phone and jewelry.
