BOARDMAN, Ohio - A Youngstown man is jailed on $150,000 bond after making his initial appearance in Boardman court Thursday evening. 

He's accused of allegedly robbing the Market Street Walgreens drug store in Boardman and holding several employees hostage at gunpoint.

Kelim Rushton, 35, was charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping after Boardman Township Police arrested him as he was going out of the back door of the Walgreens at Route 224 and Market Street just after 3:30 am.

A quick-thinking manager at the store was able to call 911 as she saw the suspect enter the store with a black hoodie, a mask covering the bottom half of his face, and a gun in his hand.

Detective Greg Stepuk is investigating the case for Boardman Township Police, "In the meantime, Mr. Rushton also pointed the gun at the Pharmacist, and he demanded all sorts of oxycodone and a lot of the narcotic type of drugs.  There was pretty much 49 bottles worth.  So we're talking several thousand pills."

When Boardman Police Officers arrived on the scene, they entered the store immediately.  They spotted the suspect with a gun walking employees back to the storage room single file.  That's when officers identified themselves and told the suspect to drop his gun.  Instead, Rushton ran towards the storage room and asked the employees about the back door.

Two employees then ran towards the front of the store towards safety.

Rushton tried to make a run for it by escaping out of the back door.  He ended up walking right into the path of officers who had set up a perimeter, and they ended up taking him at gunpoint.  

"Rushton did relinquish the weapon rather quickly, which could have been more tragic if he did not.  Because we had several officers that had him at gunpoint.  And they showed great restraint on getting him into custody without any injury to anybody," Detective Stepuk said.

Police searched the suspect and found a knife and an extended 9mm magazine with 35 live rounds.

The pharmacist on duty told investigators that before police arrived, Rushton had ordered him and another employee to open the pharmacy door as well as the safe inside.

A couple shopping at the store for a birthday card told police they ducked behind some shelves when they saw police enter the store.  No one was hurt.

"Rushton did talk to us after his arrest, he gave us a statement.  He did say he was under the influence of oxycontin, that he had some surgeries, and that he became addicted to it, and now that he had no way to pay for it that's why he kind of went to this extreme," Detective Stepuk said.

The suspect also expressed concern about his arrest because he told detectives he's the only one taking care of his elderly mother and his eight-year-old son.

Rushton during his arraignment told the judge that he had two surgeries and during that time he became addicted to painkillers.  He says he has not worked since 2017.