Advance Auto Parts robber caught in Macedonia

News-Times reporter

Macedonia police sergeant Ken Turley said 44-year-old Cornelius H. Seals of Waynesburg, Ohio, is responsible for robbing eight Advance Auto Parts stores at gun point from Youngstown to Amherst.

On Sunday, Sept. 13, around 5:07 p.m., officers arrested and charged Seals with one count of robbery -- a second degree felony -- in connection with another armed robbery at the Advance Auto Parts store on East Aurora Road in Macedonia.

Turley credits those employees who became suspicious after observing Seals looking like and behaving similar to the guy who held up stores in Amherst, Youngstown, Mansfield, Wooster, Austintown, Warren, Kent and Hubbard. Fearing the worst, employees there immediately contacted police.

"The employees there had been tipped off by district managers that there had been a series of robberies and they supplied them with information and this subject just happened to fit the description," Turley said. "Our officers then responded to a call of a possible theft in progress."

Once officers arrived on scene, they stopped Seals in the parking lot attempting to flee the auto parts store on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

What police and employees first thought was a black semi automatic pistol, turned out to be a BB gun Seals kept stashed in the waistband of his pants.

"It was a very realistic and a very real looking gun," Turley said.

When detectives from the Amherst Police Department headed south to interview Seals, Turley told the News-Times Seals was cooperative throughout the entire process.

"His big concern was that he not be charged in these other communities with having a real gun which prompted him to cooperate," he said. "He was very forthcoming that 'I did this one and this one and all those other occasions it was the same way as in Macedonia which was a toy gun and I never wanted to hurt anybody and I wanted money'."

At Seals's arraignment at Stow Municipal Court on Tuesday, Sept. 15, he, alongside Diane Dougherty -- his court appointed attorney -- chose not to enter a plea before judge Lisa L. Coates. After waiving his right to a preliminary hearing, Coates set his bond at $500,000 and bound his case over to the Summit County grand jury.

Later this week, Turley will try and persuade the grand jury to add seven more counts of robbery against Seals. He hopes security camera footage from the stores including Amherst's, combined with statements made by Seals will be enough to strengthen their case against him.

"It all boiled down to greed," Turley said, adding he will be representing seven other jurisdictions -- including Amherst -- in court.

Since he is no stranger to the criminal justice system, Turley believes Seals understood now was the time to come clean or face even more charges down the road.

"The Summit County prosecutor said he would package up all the robberies and deal with them at once," Turley said. "It would be crazy to trot this guy from county to county."

On Sunday, Aug. 30, Seals held up the Advance Auto Parts store located at 301 N. Leavitt Rd., at gun point about an hour before the store closed for the day. He demanded money from employees who were staffing two different registers.

No one was injured in the incident.

Seals was in the Macedonia city jail for 10 days before being transferred to the Summit County Jail after he was unable to post 10 percent of his $500,000 bond.

His trial date at Summit County Common Pleas Court has not been set.