BOARDMAN Boardman Police Department is speculating that juveniles could be responsible for two separate violent car thefts in the township, just days apart.

In the first incident on August 8, two teenagers allege that they were eating in a car near Market Street and Midlothian Boulevard when they were approached by armed juveniles in ski masks who forced them out of the vehicle.

According to a police report, the suspects then fled northbound in the vehicle.

After a chase by police, one female juvenile was arrested, while three others ran away.

Police are still investigating the first incident.

The second incident occurred on August 12. 

It happened when a woman was inside a store on Midlothian Boulevard. 

According to a police report, a group of juveniles was spotted taking the victim's car in the parking lot.

Lieutenant Michael Sweeney of the Boardman Police Department told 21 News that an employee of the store alerted the woman of what was going on.

"It was actually the employee who alerted her to the incident and said, 'Hey, I think a few people were trying to get in your car,'" said Sweeney.

Lieutenant Sweeney went on to tell 21 News that the woman had attempted to stop the suspects when she saw the group attempting to leave the parking lot with her car.

"She attempted to get in the vehicle to stop them, and unfortunately, did sustain some pretty severe injuries," said Sweeney.

The police report of the incident indicates that the woman attempted to jump into the driver's side window while the vehicle was reversing. 

Allegedly, one of the suspects in the vehicle punched the victim several times, and another suspect was heard saying "shoot her".

The victim was then dragged while the suspects drove around the parking lot. She was later able to free herself and fell onto the pavement.

Using Flock cameras, police were able to recover the vehicle.

When officers arrived, they located the potential suspect, a 17-year-old male, to a nearby store where he was tased by police and taken into custody.

Additionally, an adult the male suspect was with, identified as 58-year-old Andrea Moss, was also charged with obstruction and resisting arrest.

Police say they will continue to investigate, and say these types of crimes remain unusual in Boardman Township.

"We've got several detectives working on it right now, obviously increased patrols in that area, just to see if we can stop anything like that in the future," said Sweeney.

Police Chief Todd Werth told 21 News that they are investigating whether the two incidents could be connected.

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