WARREN — A repeat violent offender who is accused of robbing a Niles jewelry store, assaulting a Warren police officer and being involved in a hit-skip accident in early December 2024 pleaded guilty last week to an amended indictment.

Erick A. Rivers, 33, of DeForest Road SE, Warren, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to an amended indictment of aggravated robbery, two counts of felonious assault and one count of felony vandalism. He was indicted in January 2025 on charges of aggravated robbery and four counts of felonious assault, all with a repeat violent offender specification, and felony vandalism.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed two counts of felonious assault as well as the repeat violent offender specifications, according to a news release from the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office. Rivers had been set for trial April 27 before Judge Cynthia Westcott.

The case involved three separate incidents that occurred Dec. 5-6, 2024, according to Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow. On that night, Rivers first entered the Instant Cash for Gold store in Niles and picked up a chair, threatened an employee and demanded cash and jewelry. Morrow said the defendant escaped with about $200 in cash. The entire incident was captured on store surveillance video.

After fleeing the business in a vehicle, Rivers then got into a traffic crash on Homewood Avenue SE in Warren. The driver of the other vehicle exited his car and was heading toward Rivers when the defendant rear-ended the other vehicle, nearly hitting the victim who had to dive out of the way. The crash caused more than $1,000 in damage, Morrow stated.

The final incident involved a second traffic crash on Mahoning Avenue NW in Warren near the Jamestown Giant Eagle. When Warren police officer Dania Gillam went to investigate, Rivers — who was apparently angered by the crash — struck Gillam with a pipe, causing the officer to fall to the ground and twisting his knee. Several witnesses came to Gillam’s assistance.

Rivers, who was defended by attorney Joshua Weemhoff, could face indefinite sentencing totaling almost 31 to 35 ½ years in prison. Visiting Judge Andrew D. Logan said prison sentences in this case are not mandatory, but are presumed necessary.

Records show that in 2014, Rivers was convicted of first-degree aggravated burglary with a firearm specification, and he was given a four-year prison term by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice.