Nov 20, 2014 2 min read

Touched by the sad story of an elderly Monongahela woman who was robbed behind a grocery store last month, a Good Samaritan helped out by sending a check for the victim to the Monongahela police department.

Chief Brian Tempest said he received a $100 check in the mail Thursday from a Tarentum woman who learned of the robbery through news reports.

“The woman who sent the check wants to remain anonymous,” Tempest said. “She just wanted to do something nice and pay it forward. And it was very nice of her.”

Angela Beresh, 31, and her boyfriend, Joshua Verno, 25, both formerly of Monongahela, were arraigned Monday before District Judge Mark Wilson on three counts of robbery and one count each of conspiracy, theft and simple assault.

The two are accused of robbing the 93-year-old woman behind the Foodland store, 1223 W. Main St., Oct. 8. They reportedly went up to the woman and asked her for $2, which she pulled from a bank envelope she had in her hand.

Beresh and Verno then struck up a conversation with her, police said. When she told them she was waiting for a taxi, they offered to give her a ride home.

They directed the woman to the back of the store, where they slapped the envelope containing $200 out of her hand, grabbed it and ran down the railroad tracks. The empty envelope was later found behind the city’s library.

Since the woman does not drive, city police made the special delivery Thursday afternoon.

Beresh is in Washington County jail while Verno remains in Westmoreland County on these and other charges. They are scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Wilson Dec. 3.