Report: Man robbed teen

NORWALK — A Mansfield man was charged with aggravated robbery. Earl D. Kirkwood, 59, of the 200 block of Walter Ave., is facing one count of robbery, a second-degree felony. Kirkwood allegedly asked a teenager for money at a Norwalk gas station while leaning back in his vehicle to expose a firearm on his vehicle's passenger seat, according to a Norwalk police report. At about 8:20 p.m. on July 24, the teen said he was at a gas pump in the 200 block of Benedict Ave. (U.S. 250) when he saw Kirkwood's red SUV pull into the parking lot and do a loop around the building before it pulled up to the other side of the pump he was at. Kirkwood then reportedly asked the teen for $20. The teen said he did not have any money to give to Kirkwood. It was at that point that Kirkwood allegedly leaned back, exposing a "tiny pistol," according to the complainant. Kirkwood then asked for $20 again and the teen gave it to him. Kirkwood then departed the scene. The teen's parents brought him to the police station about 45 minutes after the incident, the report states. The boy told officers that Kirkwood never threatened to use the gun and described him as a black male with a frizzy white beard and about 50-60 years old. At that point, an officer began checking the city's Flock Safety cameras. Flock cameras are license plate readers that capture an image of all vehicles with plates passing by the camera. The officer focused on red SUVs passing the camera on Benedict Avenue near Fisher Titus Medical Center, the report states. Norwalk police then saw that Huron County deputies received a call about a suspicious red SUV in Plymouth. After discovering the vehicle was registered in Kirkwood's name and his BMV photo matched the description provided by the teen, Norwalk officers asked deputies to detain the man and deliver him to the Norwalk police station. Officers reviewed gas station surveillance and observed an interaction between the teen and the driver of Kirkwood's SUV that resembled the teen handing money to the driver, the report states. Kirkwood denied robbing the boy and denied having a firearm, according to the report. He did admit he asked the boy for $20 and received it. Kirkwood said he had recently fallen off the wagon and started consuming crack cocaine and had no call/no showed to work for two weeks. No firearm was recovered but Kirkwood was in possession of a folding knife, the report states. As of late Tuesday, Kirkwood is incarcerated in Huron County Jail under a $20,000 bond. He has a plea hearing scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday in Norwalk Municipal Court.