Mitchell arrested on new robbery charge
WAYNESBURG – A Mt. Morris man charged with committing several armed robberies in West Virginia and Pennsylvania now also faces charges for the robbery of the Dilliner Convenience Store.
Timothy Paul Mitchell, 28, of 275 Blacks Run Road, was charged by state police Wednesday with robbery, simple assault and theft for the March 29 robbery of the store on Route 88 in Dunkard Township.
Mitchell is currently being held in North Central Regional Jail in Sutton, W.Va., charged with robbing the Belko Foods Store in Blacksville, W.Va., March 30 and the Hot Spot Lounge in Westover, W.Va., Feb. 23.
State police in Uniontown also earlier charged Mitchell for the March 27 armed robbery at Sporty’s Pizza in Point Marion.
Mitchell is alleged to have entered the Dilliner store at 7:40 p.m. wearing a black bandana, wire rimmed glasses and a black hooded shirt, according to the criminal complaint filed by Trooper Daniel Barnhart.
He took a drink from the cooler and approached the cash register. As the clerk was scanning the bar code on the drink, Mitchell pointed a black handgun at her and demanded money.
The clerk gave him $173 from the register and he fled, leaving the area in a black Toyota Corolla or Camry with a West Virginia plate beginning with the number “5.”
Police subsequently learned Mitchell had an active warrant in West Virginia for stealing a black Corolla and that a car matching that description had been used in some of the West Virginia robberies.
Mitchell was found with the stolen car March 30 when he was arrested by West Virginia State Police and Monongalia County sheriff’s deputies at a hotel in Morgantown, W.Va., police said.
Interviewed by a sergeant with the Monongalia County sheriff, Mitchell admitting committing two robberies in Pennsylvania, one at Sporty’s Pizza and the other at a location that fit the Dilliner store, police said.
A pair of wired rimmed glasses and a West Virginia license plate beginning with the number “5” were found in the stolen car and a black bandana was found in the hotel room in which Mitchell was arrested.
The new charges were filed with District Judge Lou Dayich. Mitchell had not yet been arraigned on the charges early Wednesday afternoon.
When Mitchell’s alleged crime spree began he was wanted on a bench warrant issued by the Greene County Court for failing to appear for a court hearing in January.
Mitchell was charged with escape in June 2013 after he earlier failed to return to the Greene County jail where he was serving a sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol and had work release privileges.
He was subsequently apprehended and jailed on the escape charge until Aug. 16 2013, when he was released on bond.
On Jan. 6, Mitchell’s bond was revoked and he was returned to jail at the request of the bonding company, which had information Mitchell planned to flee. Three days later, however, Judge Farley Toothman reinstated the bond and released him from jail. When he failed to appear for a pretrial hearing on the escape charge Jan. 15, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.