Crime & Safety

Mentor Man Accused Of Robbery, Kidnapping

He and co-defendants accused of robbing Georgio's Pizza in Painesville at gunpoint, leading police on lengthy chase

A Mentor man faces charges of aggravated robbery, kidnapping assault and more after he and two other men robbed a Georgio's Pizza at gunpoint and led police on a lengthy chase, Painesville Police Lt. Denise Mercsak said.

Charles Farrow III, 20, of Mentor, and John Hugley III, 27, of Cleveland, were arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Painesville Municipal Court.

Police have the name of a third suspect, who they are looking for, Mercsak said.

Find out what's happening in Mentorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At 1:30 p.m. Monday, two men entered the pizza shop -- one is thought to be Hugley. One carried a shotgun; the other, a handgun, Mercsak said.

They threatened the three men in the store and restrained them. Then they stole all the three men's money, as well as cash from the register, Mercsak said.

Find out what's happening in Mentorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The lieutenant said police do not yet know why the robbers targeted that specific pizza shop.

Witnesses spotted the two men and a driver leave in a white Chevrolet HHR, driven by Farrow. Mentor Police spotted the same car driving west on Route 2 and started pursuing them.

Officers from Euclid and Cleveland joined the pursuit as the suspects exited from the interstate in Cleveland.

The car chase ended on a cul-de-sac on Torbenson Drive in Cleveland when the HHR drove into a Mentor Police and Euclid Police cruiser. The three men tried to run away but two of them were immediately arrested, Mercsak said.

The two suspects in custody have been charged with aggravated robbery, kidnapping, abduction, robbery, assault, aggravated menacing, theft and complicity.

Mercsak said the police involved did their job perfectly and that's how nobody was hurt despite being in a potentially dangerous chase with armed suspects.

"That was an extremely dangerous situation and it could have gone bad at any time," Mercsak said.

The lieutenant added that the Painesville Police Department was very grateful for the help it received pursuing and arresting the suspects.

"The help from Mentor, Euclid and Cleveland Police Department cannot be overstated," she said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Mentor