Man Pleads Guilty To Robbery At Mentor Walmart

A Painesville Township man pleaded guilty to robbery after he scuffled with a security guard at the Mentor Walmart back in January.

Virgil Combs, 49, pleaded guilty to robbery, as well as an unrelated charge of receiving stolen property, Monday in Lake County Court of Common Pleas.

Combs faces between two and nine years in prison when Judge Richard Collins Jr. sentences him June 4.

Combs was arrested on Jan. 13.

A security guard spotted Virgil Combs walking around the the Walmart that evening. The guard thought Combs looked like someone who had stolen a television from Walmart previously, Mentor Police Lt. Ken Zbiegien

Consequently, the guard watched Combs and saw him take a TV and use wire cutters to cut the scanner from its box. Then Combs tried to take the television but security guards and the store manager stopped him.

Combs refused to cooperate and scuffled with the guards.

At one point, he shouted, "I have a gun and I'll shoot you," according to the police report.

Combs then pulled the wire cutters from his pocket and hit one of the guards in the neck, giving him a 1-inch cut, Zbiegien said.

An off-duty Mentor Police officer happened to be shopping at the store. He saw the fracas and handcuffed Combs.

The guard who was cut declined medical treatment.

According to The News-Herald, Combs told the judge Monday that he was dealing with drug problems at the time of his arrest.